Love On The Rocks
by Rincewind2.0
Summary: After the Winter War, Shuuhei is sent to the Real World to see if the Visoreds pose a threat to the Soul Society. There he finally meets his savior from years back, Kensei.
1. Chapter 1

**My first non- AU fic! This pairing wouldn't have worked in the universe of my other fics. But it's a nice change. Hope this doesn't spread out like my first one, I have it quite well mapped out in my head. Hope you can spare me a review or few, it always makes my day when someone bothers to take the time. But, enjoy it anyway.**

**Love On The Rocks**

The days and weeks after the Winter War had been hectic in Soul Society. Many people were not pleased with Aizen's judgment and were gossiping about a "revolution" or a "mutiny". Genryusai- domo had ordered the Squads to strike hard on these conspirators and use disciplinary actions against them if necessary. _As if we weren't slumped with work already, _Shuuhei Hisagi sighed inwardly while filing another stack of reports that had been left on his desk. With still no captain for his squad, his own duties had almost doubled and now they had so many new things to deal with, like the Visoreds and the aftermath of the War. Mayuri Kurostuchi had brought back a ton of some weird Hollow equipment from Hueco Mundo and was now fighting over whether it should be handed over to the Court or could he study it on his own.

Despite being overworked and underpaid with the work on his squad and being the editor of Seireitei Communications, there was one thing that kept bothering Shuuhei through day and night. _Captain Muguruma, _he thought and stopped signing the report in his hand. He stared into nothingness as the image of his childhood hero arriving to the war zone just months before floated into his mind. He, or anyone else besides the captains, hadn't known about the fate of the lost captains and lieutenants over a hundred years ago. Back then it had been even worse than now when captains Aizen, Tousen and Ichimaru had betrayed everyone and escaped to Hueco Mundo. About a century ago the Soul Society had lost six of its captains and three lieutenants to Aizen's evil schemes. When Shuuhei had been accepted to the Academy and become a Shinigami, he had hoped to serve under captain Muguruma only to find Tousen- sama as the captain of the ninth squad and his savior gone.

He had tried to ask around for him but the whole issue seemed to be a taboo of some sort, some people had even acted like they'd never heard of him. Tousen- sama had brushed the topic off, stating that the former captain had been relieved of his duties and was probably enjoying his retirement somewhere in Soul Society. An unlikely explanation but since there wasn't anything better at hand, he had accepted it and moved on. Though now when thinking back, when he had asked captain Ukitake about Muguruma- sensei, the pale man had looked somewhat pained and like he had wanted to say something but had silenced himself. Thinking about it now, it made sense that Ukitake- sama had known about the Visoreds, he had been a captain back then alongside with captains Kyoraku and Unohana. Apparently the Head Captain had forbid them from addressing the issue, since the former captains and lieutenants had been deemed to be treated as regular Hollows and to be executed. If it hadn't been for Yoruichi-san, Urahara-san and Tessai-san they would all be dead now, instead of living in secret in the Real World.

In the midst of the battle it hadn't been a suitable time to engage in a deep conversation on where the hell had the former squad leaders been all this time or why were they even there and what had happened to them hundred years ago. Seeing Muguruma- sensei had been a shock enough, seeing him fighting the Menos with a Hollow mask on was a completely another story. But Shuuhei hadn't had time to delve on that issue, he had been busy with trying to fight off his former captain alongside captain Komamura. Last thing he remembered was seeing Muguruma-sensei fall to the ground after fighting with that weird Espada Wonderweiss that had already cut down captain Ukitake. He had heard that he was later on healed by captain Unohana and retired back to the Real World with the other Visoreds. Apparently the Soul Society was planning on just leaving them be, at the moment they had no resources to deal with them and many people were saying that since they had assisted them in the War and their true fate had come to light, they should be allowed back to Soul Society. Problem was, they probably didn't want that.

Shuuhei frowned and rubbed his temples. For a second he had hoped that Muguruma- sensei would've returned to Soul Society and taken back his position as the captain of the 9th squad. Though that would've probably meant that his lieutenant Mashiro would've also regained her position in the squad but that didn't really bother him. Just to have a captain for the squad once more would mean so much for all his subordinates, not that they didn't really treat him as their captain at the moment but without the official title it really wasn't the same thing. The other captains were sympathetic for him but didn't really treat him as an equal without a captain's insignia.

His hand went to his cheek were the number "69" was tattooed. It was his tribute to not only his squad but to the man who had saved his life as a child. He would've wanted to talk to him, there were so many things he wanted to know but the man had disappeared into thin air, or so it seemed. _Maybe I should visit him in the Real World_, he thought while scribbling his initials to one report. _But what would I say to him? That I'm sorry the Soul Society wanted to kill you and you had to hide in the Real World for a century just because no one would believe that Aizen could be a bad guy? And practically because of that he almost destroyed our whole world and without your help he would've most likely succeeded? Shinji said they were not our allies, they stood with that ryoka boy, Ichigo…Apparently they had trained him to control his inner Hollow, what a strange coincidence that is…And that Ichigo's father is also a Shinigami, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder…_

A stack of papers were slammed on the table in front of him, waking him up from his thoughts. Rangiku Matsumoto peered over him, smiling charmingly as ever.

"Hiya Shuuhei" she chirped and batted her eyes at him "could you file these for me?" Shuuhei glanced at the towering pile of reports that the woman had placed in front of him and sighed inwardly. Before he could answer to her an angry voice rang behind her.

"Matsumoto!" Izuru Kira stomped to Shuuhei's desk and grabbed the stack of papers, shoving them back to the woman's arms.

"Can't you see Shuuhei's already slumped with work? Try to do have some respect for the man!" The lieutenant of the 3rd squad raged to the woman who seemed unphased, just yawned and waved her hand to Kira.

"Calm down, Kira, he can always say "no" if he wants to. Can't you, Shuuhei?" Both lieutenants looked at Shuuhei, who was already confused by the showdown that was happening in front of him. When he didn't answer, Kira rolled his eyes and turned back to Matsumoto.

"Of course he can't say no to you when you're all over him with your flirting and batting your eyelashes and shoving your boobs into his face" the man remarked bitterly while eyeing the woman from head to toe. A vein in Matsumoto's forehead twitched as she scoffed and threw her hair back.

"Well you certainly haven't complained about my looks before, Kira. Actually you have been more than pleased when I've let you stare at my boobs and ass while I walk by."

"That's not the point!" Kira snapped as his face turned red.

"Oh I think it is!" Matsumoto retorted and dropped the paperwork back on Hisagi's desk "you're just jealous 'cause I didn't come to you for help but to him! Maybe you wish it was _you_ gazing down at my cleavage and helping me out."

"That's preposterous!" Kira flinched back. Shuuhei sighed and placed his head into his hands. Those two had been squabbling ever since the War had ended, he had no idea what had happened between them and didn't really care. He had his hands full as it was. He glanced at the arguing duo and then shunpo'd out of his office, into the back garden of the squad. Here he could have some privacy before returning back to work. He stretched his arms over his head as he walked to a sakura tree and sat under it. He leaned his head back against to tree trunk and closed his eyes for just a minute or two.

"Hisagi- san? Are you awake?" Shuuhei groaned in response and had to fight to open his eyes, only to be faced with concerned look of captain Kyoraku who was looming over him.

"Captain Kyoraku!" he clamored as he tried to scramble to his feet. _How long did I sleep? It's almost dark already, oh shit shit shit…_

"Don't worry, Hisagi- san, your squad can do one afternoon without you. And you need the rest" Kyoraku consoled him and gave him his hand to pull him up. Shuuhei glanced at the man verily but grabbed his arm and let himself be pulled back to his feet.

"I'm sorry, captain Kyoraku" he mumbled as an apology and looked down at his feet. The laid-back captain just waved his hand and uttered a small laugh.

"As I said, don't worry about it. Everyone knows how hard you've worked for the past months, ever since Tousen betrayed you. No one will blame you for taking some time off to relax and regain your strength." Shuuhei bowed his head to the captain.

"I've just done my job, captain, it's my honourable duty to the squad and to Seireitei." Kyoraku looked at him and hemmed, slapping him on the back.

"Well, I can see you've been trained well, Hisagi-san. But take my advice, take some time off. Just relax, clear your head a bit. The Seireitei is still in the state of crisis and we cannot afford losing anymore good men" the captain glanced at him from under his hat with a knowing gaze.

"Hisagi-san, I know what you're feeling right now. Seeing Muguruma- san again after all this time…I know how much you admired him." The man glanced at the tattoo on Shuuhei's cheek and then looked away, across the beautiful garden.

"We were all surprised to see them again, after all this time…But they were betrayed by us, by the Soul Society, the Seireitei…I don't think they want to have anything to do with us now that the Kurosaki boy has lost his Shinigami abilities." Shuuheishifted in his place, he didn't know how to react to this sudden act of assurance the captain showed to him.

"Oh I do miss my Lisa- chan" Kyoraku sighed smilingly and chuckled when thinking back at their reunion at the battle field.

"She hadn't change a bit, I can tell you that. Every time I look at Nanao-chan I can only think how much she resembles Lisa…They'll both always be my little girls." The captain gazed at the sky with a wandering look in his eyes. Shuuhei felt sympathetic for him, he had lost a good lieutenant and friends due to Aizen's treachery and had been powerless against the judgment of the Central 46.

"Captain Kyoraku, I…" he started but was cut off by the captain.

"But yes, I did have something important to tell you" the man said and reached inside his robes to pull out a scroll. He gave it to Shuuhei who rolled it open. He frowned while reading the letter and looked up at the captain.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"The Head Captain wants someone to go to the Real World and check up on the Visoreds, to see if they pose a threat to the Soul Society. Since they are not with us, they might as well be against us, or so the Central 46 is saying." Shuuhei could hear a bitter undertone in Kyoraku's voice, it was pretty obvious that the captain was opposed to spying on their former comrades.

"We are short on captains as it is so none of us can go, but you fought with them in the war and have suffered personally from Aizen's treachery. That may prove to be useful to you when you face the Visoreds, they might recognize you as their equal because of that. "Shuuhei raised his eyebrows and glanced back down at the letter. It indeed said that a high- ranking officer was to be sent to the Real World and find out whether the former Shinigami known as the Visoreds could be considered a threat to the Soul Society or not.

To Shuuhei the answer was simple, the Visoreds were pretty clear about not wanting anything to do with the Soul Society or the Shinigami, they just wanted to be left alone. This sort of prying felt highly unrespectable, without their aid the Soul Society would've fallen under Aizen's might. Shuuhei voiced out his thoughts to captain Kyoraku, who nodded solemnly.

"My thoughts exactly. But since Hirako Shinji clearly stated that we cannot count them as our allies or even friends, this is what we have to do. The Soul Society is very vulnerable at the moment and a surprise attack from vengeful ex- Shinigami is the last thing we need. But I think that you're level-headed enough to go and bring back a report which states that the Soul Society has nothing to fear from the Visoreds, provided we leave them be. Is this clear to you, Hisagi- san?" The lieutenant nodded and rolled up the letter, putting it inside his haori.

"You can count on me, captain." Kyoraku flashed him a wide smile and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's what I wanted to hear! Now, you'd better leave as soon as possible so the Central 46 don't have more time to think up other excuses to harass the Visoreds or take up action without knowing their position on us. You may leave tonight, the sooner the better. I've arranged that my Nanao-chan will look over your squad for the time being so you don't have to worry about them. Best of luck to you, Hisagi-san." With that and another quick smile, Kyoraku shunpo'd away, leaving Shuuhei stand under the sakura tree with the letter of his new commission weighing heavily inside his robes.

* * *

><p>Shuuhei entered the Real World only hours after being given his new mission. It was night, the crescent moon was hiding somewhere behind the clouds and there were no stars in sight. The Shinigami breathed in the cool night air and glanced around the quiet town of Karakura from his vantage point, which was the roof of a high building quite close to Urahara's shop. Or so he had been told. He heightened his senses to search for the reaitsu of Kisuke Urahara who was supposed to equip him with a gigai for this mission. He didn't sense the reaitsu of the Visoreds, the strange combination of Shinigami and Hollow reaitsu bound together was pretty easy to recognize. They were probably hiding it behind their usual barrier somewhere. There was a faint trace of a reaitsu from the ryoka, Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado, plus that Quincy boy, Uryuu Ishida. But as said, no traces of that Kurosaki boy and his massive reaitsu that used to be so tangible when visiting the Real World. <em>It seems that he was right, he has lost all his Shinigami abilities after using that final technique of his. Shame really…<em>

He finally found the reaitsu he was looking for and started to hop from roof to roof towards the shop where the ex- captain now resided. He sensed no recent Hollow activity, and had heard that Karakura had been quite peaceful now that the Hollows weren't attracted by Kurosaki's massive reaitsu anymore. Some new Shinigami had been appointed to look after the ryokas and the Quincy boy but they weren't considered a threat to the Soul Society. _Unlike their former comrades and friends, _Shuuhei thought while making his way through the quiet town. Soon enough he landed in front of the Urahara shop, where the owner was already sitting at the porch, fanning his face lazily with his hat covering most of his face. When Shuuhei approached him, he looked up and snapped his fan shut, flashing him a wide smile.

"Welcome, Hisagi- san, to my humble abode" the man greeted him but didn't bother rising up.

"Good evening, Urahara- san" Shuuhei bowed his head a little to the ex- captain.

"So I see the Soul Society has chosen you to observe the activities of the Visoreds" the blonde man remarked in a chatty tone, "a wise choice I might say, you don't know the Visoreds personally like the older captains but since you were betrayed by Aizen and your own captain you can relate to their cruel fate. And I've heard that you have run the 9th squad quite well after Tousen left, so well done you." Shuuhei wasn't sure if there was mockery behind the seemingly praising words, the shopkeeper was a difficult man to read. He decided not to bother himself with overanalyzing the man and just settled to a thankful nod.

"Any help you could offer me would be most appreciated" he said and really meant it, if anyone knew the Visoreds that was Urahara who had saved them in the first place. Though it seemed that their relationship was somewhat strained, maybe they were bitter for not being able to be returned to their normal selves but still thankful for their rescuer. Possessing Hollow powers was an abomination to the Shinigami and considered a treason, but being treated as criminals rather than victims was of course been hugely unfair to the Visoreds. Hisagi could understand that they might not be all that happy being prodded again by the Soul Society but orders were orders.

"Oh, I'm but a humble shopkeeper but maybe I can be of some assistance to you, Hisagi-san. Let's start from your gigai and get you settled in." The man rose quickly from his porch and walked inside the shop, Shuuhei followed suit. The shop was dark and quiet, it was very late. Urahara lead them to the back of the shop where his lab was situated. Shuuhei's gigai was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, looking eerily real. It was now lifeless though, without a Mod Soul in it. Urahara patted the gigai on the shoulder and turned to look at the real Shuuhei with a wide smile on his face.

"Quite lifelike, isn't it? I'm pretty proud of this particular one, I think it catches…something essential" the man said and tapped the gigai on the nose. Shuuhei shrugged and suppressed a shudder, it felt weird seeing your own clone slumping in chair like that, knowing that would be your soul's home for the next few days, at least.

"Step in, please" Urahara urged him and with some hesitance, the lieutenant approached the gigai and entered it.

A faint wave of nausea flowed over him as he settled into his gigai. It had been awhile since his last mission in the Real World that had called for using a gigai so it took him some time to get used to the faux body. Slowly he opened his eyes and stretched out his limbs, getting the feel of the gigai. He knew that it didn't have the same endurance or the stamina that his soul form did but otherwise it was pretty much the same. This model didn't conceal his reaitsu completely so he could allow the Visoreds sense him approach later on.

"I think you remember how to use the Gikongan" Urahara said while handing him the said object that would help him exit the faux body when needed. Shuuhei took the device and slipped it in his gigai's breast pocket. Now he looked down on what he was wearing; dark jeans and a black dress shirt plus a leather jacket.

"Tessai chose the clothes, he doesn't seem to trust my fashion sense." Shuuhei glanced at the man dressed completely in different shades of green. _And that hat. _

"You can stay here while on your mission, I highly doubt the Visoreds would welcome you to stay with them in their hideout."

"Can you tell me anything useful about them" Shuuhei asked while getting up from the chair and walking about in the room, trying to wear off the stiffness of the faux body, "you know them and their condition better than anyone." The ex- captain laughed bitterly and flicked his fan open again, gazing somewhere in the distance.

"'Condition'? I guess you could call it that" the man said while lazily fanning his face. He then snapped it close again and poked the rim of his hat with it, uncovering his face from its shadow.

"I'd like to know if you really want to understand or are you just curious for the sake of your mission" Urahara looked at Shuuhei, his eyes now dead serious and the earlier jolliness gone.

"It might not seem like it but living in exile for over a century isn't all fun and games. Have you any idea how many times the Soul Society has tried to track us down, to bring us to their justice while the real perpetrators were left to roam the Seireitei unpunished?"

The lieutenant stood quietly in front the Urahara whose reaitsu had began to flare while he talked about his past. _A cruel fate, yes…But the Central 46 must lay down the law and protect justice…_Memories of Shuuhei's former captain in his Espada form flashed in his mind and he could hear his distorted voice ringing in his ears, the weight of Kazeshini as it had pierced his neck and the blood on his hands… Shuuhei glanced instinctively at his arms fearing to see the blood still staining them but no. _He always talked about justice…his own justice and how it needed to be protected…and looked what he became, a mindless monster, drunk on his own power and fighting against his friends and allies. _After killing his own captain Shuuhei had felt retched, even more so than after Tousen had betrayed them. Despite his actions, he couldn't believe that Tousen had played him all along, that everything he had taught him had been false. For the past year he had been going over his time as Tousen's lieutenant, trying to find some clues about his plans, something that would've pointed to what was to come of him. But he'd found nothing, nothing whatsoever that could've hinted about the horrors they faced.

_Maybe I'm just blind to the past, seeing what I want to believe…That he wasn't corrupted all along, that it was Aizen who manipulated him into it all…But Aizen started his experiments with Hollowifcation over a century ago, when Muguruma- sensei first rescued me…The Tousen I admired probably never existed, just a façade of righteousness and some empty words to back it up. Nothing more. I was as blind as he, or even more so. _

"You alright, Hisagi- san? I didn't mean to scare you, I know you've suffered too from Aizen's betrayal and want to help the Visoreds…Especially Murugama-san." The man's eyes bore the tattoo on his face like Kyoraku's had before.

"Did you see him in the battle field?" Shuuhei nodded, his hand rising to touch the tattooed numbers on his cheek.

"Yes, when they arrived…But that's the last I remember of him. We both got caught in the battle. I…I wanted to see him afterwards but I was too weak and woke up in Seireitei" he replied and looked down at his shoes. _Weird looking things, _he thought passingly, _I've never understood this type of footwear._

"I don't know what I'd said to him, really. I've been looking for him since I became a Shinigami but now that I saw him again, after a century…I had no idea what to say to him."

The shopkeeper looked at him with sympathetic eyes, his earlier fury had tamed seeing the young man so troubled with his own thoughts. _He's suffered enough without me having a go at him for crimes he has nothing to do with, _Urahara thought while fiddling his fan.

"Well, you still have time to think about before tomorrow. Now let's go to bed, I'm sure you've had enough excitement for one day already." Shuuhei smiled gratefully and nodded, letting then out a long yawn. Urahara chuckled.

"See, even a Shinigami needs his rest. Come, I'll show you your room."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

Shuuhei woke up early. He had slept restlessly, tossing around on his futon for hours before finally lulling into light sleep. He hadn't slept well in months and suffered from insomnia, though he had covered it from his friends by appealing to his huge work load. On those many nights when he had finally given up on trying get some sleep he had just gone back to the office and tried to get some work off the way. It was mostly useless since when he got one stack of reports done, there were two more new stacks brought to his desk. Fighting a massive war included a hell of a lot more paperwork than one would think.

Shuuhei got up from the bed, yawning and scratching his head while walking to his pile of clothes. He hadn't bothered getting out of gigai for the night, he had just changed his civil clothes to some soft cotton pants Urahara had given him. He got dressed to the normal clothes, still feeling weird wearing them. Compared to his Shinigami uniform, the pants were tight and shirt clung to his upper body. _Guess I'll get used to it eventually, _he mused while picking up his Zanpakutou and tying it to his belt. He slid open the door of his room and walked towards the dining room. A huge man with dark complexion, hair braided across his skull and small glasses was standing in the hallway. Noticing Shuuhei he bowed his head slightly.

"Good morning, Hisagi- dono." Shuuhei nodded in return, he remembered that his man used to be the head of Kido Corps before escaping from the Soul Society along with the Visoreds, Urahara and Yoruichi. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for using forbidden Kido spells in order to save the ex- captains and lieutenants.

"Good morning, Tsukabishi- san" the lieutenant replied.

"I believe you have a visitor waiting for you in the dining room" the tall man said. Shuuhei frowned. _A visitor? Who even knows I'm here? _

"Thank you, Tsukabishi- san" he said and made his way into the small dining room. He slid the door open and at the small round table sat Kisuke Urahara and Hirako Shinji, enjoying their tea and chatting away. The men turned around as he entered the room, Urahara smiling from under his hat and Shinji looking a bit peeved. _Well, what can you expect, I'm here to basically spy on them. _

"Good morning, Hisagi- san!" the shopkeeper greeted joyfully. The lieutenant muttered a reply but kept his eyes on Shinji, who was still glaring at him.

"You may recognize Hirako- san here" the man continued, seeming completely unaware of the tension between the two.

"Yes, I think I do" Shuuhei replied, trying to sound calm while the ex- captain eyed at him like a piece of meat.

He knew that he should treat the Visoreds with respect if he wanted to survive this mission. He was pretty sure that anyone of them could rip him apart in a bat of an eye in their Hollow form. The image of them taking down the horde of Menos flashed in his mind and he had to suppress a shudder. _Don't show him you're afraid, _he scolded himself, _don't make this harder than it already is. _

"I've told Hirako-san about your mission here and asked him to help you out. He'll escort you to their headquarters" Urahara said. Shuuhei bowed slightly in a gesture of gratitude but earned only a scoff from the blonde Visored.

"We knew to expect something like this after the War was over so Hachi has reinforced our barriers. You wouldn't had a chance to find us if we didn't want you to."

"Now now, Hirako- san, play nice" Urahara playfully scolded the man by smacking him lightly on the head with his fan, "the more you cooperate, the sooner this is over and Hisagi-san can go back to Soul Society with his report that they have nothing to fear from you. And life goes on, eh?"

The lieutenant and ex- captain stared at each other for a few seconds, trying to find a crack in the other's façade. Shinji gave up first, sighing in defeat and waving his hand in the air.

"Fine fine, guess it can't be helped then." He rose up and grabbed his Zanpakuto from the floor beside him, swinging it on his shoulder.

"Let's get cracking then, shall we?" Shuuhei nodded and followed Shinji out of the shop, waving a goodbye to Urahara who waved his fan back to him, smiling wryly with his hat covering his eyes.

Shinji guided them through small alleyways across town, walking a few steps ahead of Shuuhei. Occasionally he glanced at him over his shoulder and scoffed, seemingly not impressed by the Soul Society's ambassador. Shuuhei didn't pay attention to his glares, he was getting more anxious by the minute with the anticipation of meeting the Visoreds personally. Especially one particular man…

"That tattoo of yours looks familiar" Shinji remarked suddenly. Shuuhei snapped out of his thoughts and stared at the back of the man's head. He didn't know what to answer, of course Shinji knew where he had seen the same tattoo. _Is he playing me for a fool? _The ex-captain turned to look at him over his shoulder, now a light grin on his face, revealing a line of frighteningly big and straight teeth.

"Very familiar actually" he continued, his grin widening slightly. When Shuuhei didn't say anything, he turned to look ahead of him again.

"How do you know Kensei?" _He probably knows anyway so why bother lying._

"He saved me from a Hollow when I was just a kid" Shuuhei replied.

"Ooo, so he's your hero then" Shinji teased him with a smiling voice. The lieutenant shrugged off the comment, no matter how true it might be.

"But that must've been over a century ago. I wonder if he recognizes you anymore…" Shuuhei thought about the same thing. Of course the tattoo was kind of a giveaway but still…He had been only a child back then and liked to think he didn't look exactly the same. _What would he think of me? Despise me like other Shinigamis, think I'm an idiot for copying his tattoo on my face…Guess I'll know soon enough._

They had arrived in front of a large storage building, in an abandoned part of the docks. Shinji waved his hand absently in the air before pulling open a large door and stepping inside. Shuuhei stopped before entering the building, it was dark inside and he couldn't see a thing. The Visored glanced over his shoulder when he didn't follow and nudged his head forward, signaling him to come in. The lieutenant drew in a long breath and exhaled deeply, bracing himself and stepped inside. The door bang shut right behind him but he managed to keep himself from flinching. He heard Shinji moving in the darkness and then a click, as suddenly the room was lit brightly. Shuuhei instinctively shut his eyes for a second but then forced them open, not wanting to leave himself full of openings in the company of possibly hostile beings.

Now when the room was lit, he could see the Visoreds, sprinkled across the room. The huge guy with pink hair was huddling in the corner, he was the former lieutenant of Kido Corps Hachigen Ushõda. The right sleeve of his green jacket was hanging loose on his side, an injury he suffered in the fight against the Espada Barragan Luisenbarn. Next to him stood Rorujo Otoribashi and Love Aikawa, the ex-captains of the 3rd and 7th division. They hadn't suffered any permanent injuries in the war despite having fought against the Primera Espada Coyote Starrk. Rorujo was just looking at his nails, seemingly bored and Love was just spinning his Zanpakutou in his hand.

Lisa Yadomaru barely glanced at him over her magazine which featured bikini clad women on the cover. She was leaning on a lonely couch that was set almost in the middle of the hall. Shuuhei could see the blond, pig-tailed hair peeking over the back of the couch and guessed that Hiyori Sarugaki, Urahara's anger management needing ex- lieutenant, was sitting there. If he was going to face some difficulty with the Visoreds, it would probably be with her. Beside Hiyori was Mashiro Kuna, Kensei's lieutenant, leaning over the back of the couch, her head tilted to the side. _Everyone's here…expect for him, _Shuuhei thought while scanning the room.

"So this is the man" Rorujo noted, glancing at Shuuhei from under his brow. Hiyori scoffed loudly and threw her head back.

"Indeed it is" Shinji replied, snatched the hat off his head and started to spin it on his finger.

"Now we need to 'play nice' as Kisuke put it so this is over as soon as possible." This time Hiyori barked out a loud laugh and jumped off the couch, turning to glare at Shuuhei.

"Why should we take this bullshit from them? We owe them nothing! Fuck him and fuck those old geezers" she roared as she stomped towards Shuuhei. The lieutenant took one hesitant step back as the small woman approached him, her reaitsu flaring around her like wildfire.

"Who do you think you are, you nosy fucker? We've done nothing to you, why the hell did you come here?" _Seems that her near death experience didn't make her any less feistier, _Shuuhei mused while the said woman yelled abuse at him, prodding him on the chest with her finger.

"Who are you anyway? Some kid who just got through puberty and is now pretending to be some hot shot with your weird tattoos and…" her voice trailed off as she looked at his face closer. Then she pointed at his cheek and looked back at the other Visoreds.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked them. Mashiro reached further over the back of the couch and slanted her eyes as if to see more clearly.

"That's Kensei's tattoo! Only smaller and not on his chest" she remarked and tilted her head to the side, her eyes big as tea plates.

"That's right!" Shinji said happily, flinging his hat back to his head. He then pointed towards Shuuhei, who was still trying to back away from Hiyori.

"This is lieutenant Shuuhei Hisagi of the 9th division" he said, "Tousen's ex- lieutenant." This caused a small stir amongst the ex- Shinigami who shared a look and raised their eyebrows.

"Which also makes him the man that killed him on the battle field, remember that? That was quite a fight as I recall." Now all eyes were fixed on Shuuhei, who was shifting awkwardly in his place.

"I thought it was Aizen who finished him off" Love pointed out.

"Well yeah, in the very end but still, it's quite well done…for a lieutenant" Shinji replied and glanced at Shuuhei, who answered to his stare with cold eyes. He didn't want to dwell on the memory of that day.

"So don't give him such a hard time, Hiyori… you crazy bitch" the blonde man remarked with a grin, making the small woman's reaitsu flare again.

"What did you say, baldy?" she bellowed taking off one of her sandals and threw it at Shinji, hitting him on the head.

"Owww, watch the face, Hiyori!" the man wailed while trying to cover his head from other assaults. Suddenly the door behind Shuuhei was pulled open and everyone's attention turned to the newcomer. Kensei Muguruma closed the door behind him and turned to look at his crowd.

"What?" he asked them while gazing around the room. Only then he noticed the newcomer who was staring at him wide-eyed like a deer in headlights. He eyed him from head to toe then his eyes stopped on his face. He slanted his eyes as trying to remember something.

"Who are you?" Kensei asked Shuuhei, frowning his brows. The lieutenant swallowed and his mind was racing for an answer.

"Shuuhei Hisagi, lieutenant of the 9th division" he replied, trying to calm his voice. Kensei's frown deepened as he mulled over his memory to recover that name from the past. But Mashiro got ahead of him.

"Hey Kensei, he's the little kid who wouldn't stop crying! You know, the one you saved from that Hollow ages ago!" The former captain's frown didn't ease at first but then there was a small glint of recognition in his eyes as he looked at Shuuhei.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember…That kid" he muttered while shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his combat trousers.

"He's come pretty far from that during the time we've been gone" Mashiro continued, now eyeing Shuuhei with some interest and licked her lips. Kensei glared at her and then stomped past Shuuhei, disappearing somewhere in the shadows of the building. Shinji looked him go with raised eyebrows but then just scoffed and looked back at Shuuhei,

"So, where do we start so we can end this as quickly as possible?" The lieutenant snapped back to reality and remembered why he was there in the first place. He cleared out his throat before answering.

"Well, I could start by asking you some routine questions about your everyday life and how you have survived here all this time…Then I'll have to monitor you for a few days just to see if you're being honest with me." Hiyori barked out a laugh again and shook her head.

"You think we couldn't play you like balalaika for that short of time? And how would you know we're not lying to you? What if I don't wanna tell you anything?"

"I'm hoping you'd realise how important it is that you cooperate, otherwise I'll have to report to the Soul Society that you're hostile and uncooperative and highly unpredictable" Shuuhei answered flatly and looked at the small woman straight in the eyes "and isn't that the last thing you need right now?" Hiyori opened her mouth but then snapped it shut, glaring at him and then spat on the floor and stormed away, disappearing into the shadows like Kensei before.

Rorujo sighed deeply, throwing back his mass of blond wavy hair.

"Guess it can't be helped then. I will be willing to cooperate, it that's how we can be left to our own devices once again."

"Me too" Love agreed. The rest of the present Visoreds nodded and muttered their approval. Shuuhei felt a wave of relieve wash over him. _Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought._

"Alright" Shinji said, "as it seems we're all ready to start, why don't you begin and do your stuff, Hisagi-san?" The man nodded gratefully and walked closer to the Visoreds.

"Right" he began, "we need to do this officially all the way so could you all state your names and rank and we'll take it from there…"

* * *

><p>After hours of questioning and rigorous paperwork, Shuuhei had finally managed to take down all the needed details from the Visoreds and their time in the Real World. <em>Now I just need to follow them around for a few days and then I can go back home, reassuring the Seireitei that they can safely be left alone, <em>he thought while shuffling through the information he had gathered. Since Kensei and Hiyori had gone somewhere else he had gotten their information from the others, maybe he could convince them to talk with him personally before he left.

They had shown him their underground training area which had impressed Shuuhei a great deal. They had done most of the talking there, where the barrier was stronger and they could work uninterrupted. Shuuhei was now heading back upstairs so he could return to Urahara's shop, it was getting late and he needed to rest. _If I could just sleep, _he sighed mentally while climbing up the stairs back to the hall. The moon was rising up to the sky and its light shone through the dusty windows of the building. Shuuhei yawned as he walked across the hall towards the big doors. The Visoreds had stayed in the training ground, bidding him farewell for now. After the initial formalities had been done, they had actually been quite nice to him. Maybe they pitied him, he wasn't sure. He had been told that after the War he had been looking like a sad puppy who had been kicked too many times (according to Yumichika, at least.) _Well, whatever works. _

He was just at the door, reaching for the handle to pull it open when a voice called him. He turned around to see Kensei standing on the stairs that were on the other side of the hall, leading to the private rooms of the Visoreds. The former captain gestured him to come closer while glancing around the room to see if anyone else was there. Shuuhei obliged a bit hesitantly and walked to him, stopping at the foot of the stairs. Kensei nudged his head upwards and turned to walk upstairs, apparently expecting him to follow. The young man felt his feet move under him without even thinking, taking long steps to keep up with the Visored. He had walked to a door at the end of the staircase and opened it, stepping inside. Shuuhei followed him inside to a room with bare minimum furniture, just a narrow bed and a small table beside it and a dresser in the corner.

Kensei grabbed the hem of his black wifebeater and pulled it over his head, throwing it on top of the dresser and sat on the bed. He stretched his arms around him, cracking his back and shoulders loudly. Shuuhei stood at the door, shuffling his feet nervously. Kensei waved his hand at him, gesturing to shut the door behind him. The lieutenant eyes were drawn on the tattoo on the man's chest, making him walk down the memory lane. Realising he was staring, he quickly pulled the door shut and tried to avert his eyes from the man, ending up staring at a spot on the wall above his head.

"So" Kensei began, leaning his back to the wall behind him, "you're that kid." Shuuhei nodded, not really figuring out any intelligent response.

"You've gone far" he continued cracking his knuckles loudly.

"I guess so" the younger man answered. The former captain scoffed and stated at the wall.

"Is that tattoo of yours" he said, gesturing to his face "supposed to be some sort of a…tribute, to me?" Shuuhei didn't remember when his tattoo had gotten this much attention in such short time. It seemed that everyone he had met was somehow fixed on his tattoo, making him feel highly self- conscious about it. _It felt like a good idea at the time, _he thought.

"I guess" he muttered quietly. Kensei cocked an eyebrow to him.

"You guess? Shit, if I tattooed my face I'd have to be pretty damn sure about it" he said with a forced chuckle. He then exhaled and scratched the back of his head, appearing slightly uneasy.

"Shit, I don't really know what I should say" he said avoiding looking directly at Shuuhei, who was still staring at the blank wall. His hands had balled into fists, his knuckles starting to go white. His mouth felt dry from trying to think of something to say. Talking with the other Visoreds had shed some light to their past so he really didn't need to ask him about that anymore. But there was something he wanted to ask Kensei personally.

"Why won't you come back?" he blurted out, almost biting his tongue straight after uttering the words. Kensei's eyes snapped back to him and he frowned deeply.

"What kind of question is that? I thought our position with the Soul Society was quite clear, no amount of apologies could undo what they did. Well, that is if they even had decency to apologise."

"Besides, we couldn't go back with possessing Hollow powers, it's still an abomination no matter what."

"But Ichigo Kurosaki was allowed to be a Substitute Shinigami even with his Hollow powers" Shuuhei retorted. Kensei raised his eyebrows and hummed.

"Well yeah but I guess that was special case."

"Then aren't you? This was all Aizen's fault, not yours! And you helped us fight against him, shouldn't that count for something!"

"Hey, listen up, kid" Kensei interrupted him sharply. He rose from the bed and started to pace around the room, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Maybe I'd wanted to go back if this had happened earlier, but it was a century ago. There's nothing for us in Soul Society, this is our home now, we've become a family. There's no going back anymore, it's not worth it." Shuuhei's shoulders sagged, he knew it had been a long shot but worth a try anyway. Kensei looked at him with pity and walked to him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry kid, I heard you've been doing great work. I knew you'd be strong."

"I just…I..." Shuuhei mumbled. Being this close to Kensei felt almost scary. He could feel slight warmth emanating from the man's bare upper body and see how the muscles moved slightly under his skin as he shifted in his place. Shuuhei felt suddenly tempted to trace the lines of the tattoo on the captain's chest that had mesmerized him when he had been just a kid. He had thought he'd never again meet the main reason why he ever joined the Academy and became a Shinigami in person, he'd given up hope years ago.

"I joined the Academy because of you" he said to Kensei, who still had his hand on the lieutenant's shoulder. His grip tightened as Shuuhei spoke and hemmed, looking at the young man straight in the eye.

"Well, I can only offer my most sincere apologies for that" he grinned. Shuuhei chuckled and lowered his gaze, slightly relieved that Kensei wasn't mad at him or upset. He had thought that maybe the former captain would be so opposed to the Soul Society he'd think of him as a fool for wanting to be a Shinigami.

"But yeah, I guess you should go, you've had a long day" the Visored said and slowly let his hand fall off Shuuhei's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right" he replied. They both stood there for a moment yet, lingering as if wanting to say something more but didn't.

The younger man turned to open the door, still hesitant as he stood there. Kensei had walked back to his bed and straightened himself on it, crossing his hands behind his head.

"Well…good night, Muguruma- sama" Shuuhei said. The man uttered a laugh and gave him a cockeyed grin.

"Call me Kensei, kid, there's no need to be so formal around here."

"Right" Shuuhei replied with a small smile. The man's words made butterflies fly in his stomach. He didn't exactly know why but there was something about him that could almost be thought as…fascination? Affection? _Do I have a man crush on him? _Shuuhei almost blushed at his own thoughts and scurried quickly out of the room.

As Shuuhei walked back to Urahara's place, he mulled over the happenings of the day. He had made some good progress on his mission and was sure that once he delivered his report back to Soul Society, they'd leave the Visoreds alone for good. They were actually more of an asset since they told him that they usually took care of most Hollows in the area and sometimes even performed soul burials to souls that the Shinigami hadn't found. _So basically they're doing our work, for free. I wonder how no one has noticed them here. Guess Urahara's reaitsu sealing gigais really work. Now I just need to follow them for couple more days and I can go back home. I wonder how Nanao- san has coped with my squad, _Shuuhei chuckled mentally as he took a turn to the left in the midst of the abandoned blocks. He continued to think about his friends back in Soul Society and how he already missed most of them when he stopped to look around and realized that he had no idea where he was.

"Oh shit" he muttered and patted his pockets for the Gikongan, he could just leap on top of a building and see where he was. But he didn't have it with him.

"It's probably next to my bed, for crying out loud…"

"Need help, kid?" Shuuhei snapped his head up when hearing the familiar voice calling from above his head. Kensei was crouching on top of a building next to him, grinning down at him. He leaped down and landed next to him, spinning his Zanpakutou in his right hand.

"I was just hunting for some Hollows when I spotted your reiatsu still lingering about. Got lost?" The younger man felt another blush creeping to his face. _How embarrassing, can't even find my way back._

"Don't worry, kid, I'll take you home" the ex- captain smirked and patted him on the back, swinging his sword back to his belt.

"If you can keep up with me that is" he said and burst into a sprint. Shuuhei stared at his back for a split second before running after him. Soon he caught up with him, running by his side. They scatted through the maze of abandoned buildings, jumping over trash cans and avoiding stray dogs on their way. When they reached a bigger street, Shuuhei sped up and ran past Kensei.

"Can you keep up?" he grinned to Kensei over his shoulder. The man smiled back and picked up his own speed.

"Is that a challenge, kid?" The lieutenant didn't answer, just kept running while trying to suppress his laughter that was bubbling in his chest. The whole situation felt so absurd and so great it just made him laugh, having a race with the his childhood hero was something he'd never even thought about but here they were, speeding across the empty streets of Karakura like little kids. He could see Kensei gaining up on him from the corner of his eye and saw that he was still grinning widely, which made him even giddier. _I must be going crazy, I don't do stuff like this, does he do stuff like this? Maybe I'm having post-traumatic stress and I'm imagining all of this, in reality I'm bound up in the Nest of Maggots._

"You can't win me with that speed, kid!" Kensei hollered while trying to overtake him.

"That's big talk from an oldie like you" he smirked back and started the final stretch, already seeing Urahara's shop in the distance.

"Last one on the yard is a Hollow bait" he said to Kensei running next to him. The man nodded and rushed into a sprint, with Shuuhei right by his side. They ran neck and neck to the yard and almost crashed into each other when reaching their destination. Shuuhei leaned his hands to his knees and tried to catch his breath, he had no idea how long for they had run. Kensei was holding his back and craned his neck up, also panting for air.

"Let's call it a tie, shall we?" he finally breathed out, the wide smile still gracing his face. Shuuhei could only nod and swallow, this gigai wasn't made for racing.

"Hey kid" the man called, now his voice softer than before. Shuuhei straightened himself up and looked at the man with a frown.

"What is it" he asked and wiped his sweaty palms into his jeans, "Kensei- sama?" The man scoffed and scratched his head.

"I told you no honorifics, makes me feel older than I already feel. Phuuh, this gigai is almost antique, I should talk to Kisuke about it." He stretched his neck with a loud crack.

"How long are you staying, kid?" Shuuhei shrugged his shoulders and for a fleeting moment, he almost wanted to stay for longer.

"Just a few more days, captain Kyoraku said the Central 46 would probably come up with some excuse to hunt you down if I don't report back soon enough." The Visored nodded and frowned, glancing around the empty yard. There was a light coming out of one of the windows in the shop so Urahara was probably still awake.

"Was there something else, Kensei-sa…" Shuuhei stopped when the man glared at him from under his brow, "Kensei." The former captain nodded in acceptance and looked around them again, as to see if they were still alone.

"There was one thing, actually" he said, still not looking at Shuuhei. Then, before the young lieutenant could ask again, Kensei had leaped in front of him and pressed a light kiss on his lips.

When he drew his head back, smirking at him with a glint in his eyes, Shuuhei was so stunned he couldn't string a sentence together. All he got out was incoherent mumbling. The older man chuckled and ruffled his black locks.

"See you tomorrow then, kid" he said and turned around, leaped over the fence and disappeared in the streets. Shuuhei stood in the yard, stumped and staring after the man. Slowly he raised his hand to touch his lips where Kensei just had kissed him. _What the….what the hell was that?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a quick note to thank everyone who has reviewed or favorited so far, so a big thanks and a warm hug to XarianHeart, EspadaScream, jenrward, Kekkai Genkai, Gypsygrrl, Kihana94, FLITTER Glitter, yenwi and Collette Nicole, sorry if I forgot someone. Plus to all who have added this to their story alerts, a warm thank you. Hope you like the new chapter too. **

**Chapter 3. **

Shuuhei had almost no recollection of how he had made it to bed. His memory had gone hazy after Kensei had kissed him. His legs had somehow carried him inside Urahara's shop and into his room where he had just fallen on the bed, not even bothering to take his clothes off. His shirt had stuck into his skin from the run and his jeans chaffed but he didn't seem to notice it. He just laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling and occasionally touching his mouth with his fingertips, slightly brushing his lips as he could still feel Kensei's touch on them. _I still don't get it…Is he gay? Am I gay? He doesn't even know me, he's never seen me except when I was a kid. _In Soul Society sexual preferences didn't mean that much to anyone and homosexuality wasn't as frowned upon as in the Real World so he wasn't that surprised that Kensei might be gay. Even he had had some homosexual experiences, mainly during his time in the Academy where student life was very similar to any institution in the world.

To Shuuhei work had been too important that he would've had enough time for any serious relationships. Some one night stands, yes, when they had been out on the town with their group of friends and gotten hammered, after that he hadn't always woken up in his own bed. Sometimes the wakeup had been more pleasant than at other times but he'd always tried to act like a gentleman and treat his partners with respect, usually by cooking them breakfast. His cooking skills were one of his not so well known talents but he actually enjoyed cooking, especially to his friends. _Would Kensei-sama like it if I cooked for him…No no no, what am I thinking? He's most likely just playing with me, maybe this is their bet of some sort or a plot to throw me off. They're probably trying to scare me off so I'd leave early and they didn't have to stand me hanging around for few more days. Yeah, that must be it. _

Shuuhei sighed deeply and rolled onto his stomach, pressing his chin into the pillow. Going back to the Visoreds's HQ would be really awkward tomorrow, they'd probably all snigger at him the whole time and make snide remarks throughout the day. He'd just have to suck it up and act like he had no idea what they were talking about. _Why would he do that? Do they hate me that much? _It felt bad to go amongst people who detested you, this mission was hard enough for him even without this extra bother. And he had been looking forward to meet them all so bad, especially Kensei- sama. Now he felt stupid and ridiculed, he was only doing his job! This wasn't his fault.

_Why does it have to be like this, _he moaned mentally while rolling off the bed and stood up to strip off his clothes. He untied Kazeshini off his belt and laid it down next to the bed, feeling a slight hum of reaitsu from the sword as he ran his fingers along the blade. After the war he'd spent every spare moment training with his shikai, trying to learn to control it better and know his sword's spirit. He had been little shaken when he had encountered his Zanpakutou's spirit which had been evil and blood-hungry, a personification of his suppressed feelings of stress and hate. He had decided he should try to communicate more with his inner feelings and with his Zanpankutou's spirit, it would also help him achieve his bankai. If he wanted to become a better warrior and able to protect his loved ones, he needed to achieve the final released state of his weapon.

Shuuhei unbuttoned his shirt and folded it neatly on the floor, then proceeded to take off his jeans. He frowned at the criss-crossing scars that embellished his body, most of them from the War. He didn't mind, the wounds had healed quite quickly with the aid of the 4th division's healers but the scars had remained. He traced the lines of the scar in his abdomen, left there by Tousen's sword. _That one hurt like hell_, he reminisced and could almost see he sword plunging through his stomach, his blood trickling along the blade and onto the ground. He shuddered slightly and quickly folded his jeans and slipped between the sheets on the bed. He slid his other hand under the pillow and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. He was really tired, the lack of sleep was starting to get to him. But still he couldn't fall asleep, his body seemed to be going on overdrive and his muscles twitched. He heard quiet steps patting outside his room, probably Urahara couldn't sleep either. _Or maybe it's one of the kids, what were their names, Ururu and Jinta? Those two are a mystery too, where have they come from? _

Shuuhei laid in bed for about an hour before giving up and rose to sit up on the bed. He bent his legs and wrapped his arms around them, leaning his chin to his knees. He glanced at Kazeshini and with a second of consideration, picked up the Gikongan that he indeed had left next to his bed. He pressed it to his chest, releasing himself from the gigai and making it lop backwards to the bed. He grabbed his Zanpakutou and tied to his back, at the same time feeling out if there was some Hollow reaitsu nearby. He quietly sneaked outside using the small window in his room and landed outside with a small thump. He breathed in the cool night air and rolled back his shoulders, popping them and then leaped on the top of the building next to the yard. The lieutenant felt his senses alert as he reached out to feel any strong reaitsu in the area. There were the familiar faint reaitsu of the ryoka but no Hollows. On a whim he turned round and started to leap towards the docks, thinking maybe Kensei was still out there. Then he stopped, mentally scolding and reminding himself that it was probably all a cruel joke, meant to throw him off and go home with his symbolic tail between his metaphoric legs.

_Best just to steer away from them, if they're on the prowl they might accidentally kill me. _Shuuhei changed his direction and started to make his way towards the river. He landed on the bank and admired how the moonlight glistened on the surface of the water. He grabbed the hilt of Kazeshini and drew it from its sheath. He gave it few experimental swings in the air, hearing the sword's spirit hum in his mind.

"_Getting bored?" _it chuckled to him as he spun the blade around in circles.

"Don't wanna get rusty" he mumbled back and did some basic defensive blocks. Kazeshini scoffed and Shuuhei could imagine the spirit throwing its head back and kicking the ground inside his soul.

"_Right. Can't sleep while thinking about your boyfriend" _Kazeshini remarked snappily. Shuuhei almost stabbed himself in the foot in the middle of a more complicated series of offensive moves.

"Shut up" he muttered while regaining his balance and improving his grip on the hilt.

"_Why else would you be here in the middle of the night? I'm part of your soul, remember, I know what you're really thinking of."_The spirit sounded more smug than usual. It was probably having a field day now when its owner's mind was in a state of disorientation and frustration. It fed on his more negative feelings that he was so used to suppress under his calm and peaceful exterior. Of course it was enjoying this, after the war he couldn't remember the last time he had been fully at ease with himself.

"Why can't you help me with this instead of just gloating over me" he asked the sword while spinning it around and stabbing the air with it. He heard Kazeshini chuckle in his mind and regretted even asking such a thing from the mean spirit.

"_You've never asked for my advice before. Hell, you've never even liked me. Why should I help you when you never even let me out to play?" _Shuuhei sighed while letting his hand drop to his side, lowering the sword.

"_And don't complain to me, I'm just a reflection of YOUR soul, I didn't choose to be like this. It's all you, Shinigami." _The sword never called him by his name. He didn't wonder, they weren't so close despite being the same soul. He feared and disliked the true form of his Zanpakutou, mainly because he didn't think of himself as a man who wanted to destroy lives or anything else for that matter. And yet his Zanpakutou was clearly a weapon whose main purpose was to cause destruction and despair with every strike. Ironic maybe, but mainly just a sign of his neglected emotions. He scratched the back of his head and raised the sword in front of him.

"_If you really wanna get stronger, you'd better learn to like me. Alright I admit, you did well against that Arrancar dude so it's not that you don't know how to use me. It's just that you won't. C'mon, I'm brilliant! We could easily take down anyone, if you just wanted to."_

"But that's the problem, I don't want to start a mayhem" he replied wearily and swung the sword back to its sheath, hearing a last hurt "hmph!" from the spirit before it quieted down. _Maybe I should ask Urahara if he'd let me practice in that underground bunker if his, whatever it is. Or even the Visoreds, I think theirs is quite similar to Urahara's._

"_Great, maybe then you'd have the balls to let me out and play for once" _Kazeshini interrupted his thoughts, sounding bitter.

"Stop whining, releasing you here would only drag attention" he replied.

"_But I want some attention, I deserve it! I'm the best there is!" _

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say" Shuuhei said but couldn't help a small smile playing on his lips. You couldn't accuse Kazeshini of being reserved, that's for sure.

"_Pansy ass coward"_ the spirit muttered under its breath but Shuuhei decided to ignore it. There was no use picking a fight with him, he only enjoyed pushing his buttons until he got so worked up he was almost shaking.

He sat down by the river bank, listening to the sounds of the night. It was quite warm though it was only halfway through April. The sky was clouded tonight so you couldn't see the stars or the moon but it was still pretty bright out. Shuuhei graced the grass with his fingers, breathing in the scent of spring. He thought about the new Shinigami who had been assigned here, he couldn't remember his name. But somehow he had a feeling it had something to do with shrimp…

Suddenly the air was cut by a loud, shrieking scream. Shuuhei jumped to his feet and immediately drew out his sword. _A Hollow. _Soon he felt the pressure of the monster's reaitsu weighing down on him. It was big. And it was close. Kazeshini's blade almost vibrated from bloodlust and he could hear the spirit's maniacal laughter in his head. _Looks like you might get out to play after all, _he thought while using shunpo to move closer to the beast. He could feel it splashing out with its reaitsu, either it was already fighting someone or it was just hoping to lure in a victim. Shuuhei stopped on a top of a telegraph pole to look around for the beast. _It's near, I can feel it. _From the corner of his eye he saw a cloud of smoke and heard a loud crash, like something had hit into a building. He leaped closer and landed to an empty carpark which was next to the destroyed building.

Finally he saw the monster, it was about thirty feet tall and looked like a bastard child of a bear and a snake. It had long fangs and a huge tail that it cracked back and forth like a whip. Four arms which ended in long claws ripped the ground as it bellowed and rampaged. Shuuhei scanned around for a spirit that the Hollow might have been after and saw a young woman hiding behind a parked car. She looked terrified but was trying to muffle her cries by holding her hands in front of her mouth. The vice-captain narrowed his eyes and let his reaitsu flow freely so that the monster would notice him and leave the woman alone. Sure enough, the beast quickly turned its ugly face towards him, sniffing the air. Shuuhei stepped in clear view and pointed his Zanpakutou towards the Hollow. It shrieked again with its deafening voice, making him cringe. Kazeshini was shouting at him to release it, but he could sense that this Hollow wasn't so strong. _Though I could probably settle this with one blow if I used him…_Shuuhei glanced at the soul who was still sobbing behind the car.

"Fine" he grunted and firmed his grip on the sword, "Reap, Kazeshini."

His reaitsu soared as he released the blade, making the Hollow step back. He spun the other scythe almost lazily by its chain while holding the other from the hilt. The Hollow screamed again, turning round to escape.

"No chance" he whispered and threw the scythe towards the Hollow, letting the chain pass through his fingers. The blade only scathed the monster's shoulder as it hurled past it, making the beast turn around and smirk at him. Shuuhei just raised an eyebrow and quickly grabbed the chain and yanked it back. The scythe returned with a whirling sound and it met the neck of the Hollow just as it turned its head back. The monster disappeared into thin air after the blade had cut off its head. Shuuhei grabbed the scythe into his hand and turned to the soul of the young woman, who was staring at him wide-eyed.

"It's okay, you can come out. I won't hurt you." The soul tried to rise up to her feet but was too shaken from the scare. Shuuhei walked to her and gently helped her up.

"Thank you" she sobbed while wiping her tears, "what…what was that thing?"

"A Hollow, an evil soul that feeds on other souls. But don't worry, you're safe now. I'll send you to Soul Society, there you can start a new life again."

"Really? How...why?" Shuuhei turned his now sealed Zanpakutou around in his hand and placed the hilt against the soul's forehead.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine" he said and tapped her lightly on the head, making her disappear. The man swung his sword back to its sheath again with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. Suddenly he heard someone clapping slowly behind him and spun around. Shinji was crouching on top of an electric pole in the other end of the carpark.

"Impressive moves, Shinigami" he smirked while hopping down to the ground. He walked nonchalantly to Shuuhei with his own sealed Zanpakutou casually swung on his shoulder.

He was wearing a beige trench coat that flowed around him as the wind blew. As he got next to Shuuhei, he retrieved a box of cigarettes from the coat's pocket, lit one and then offered them to him. The young man frowned at the packet but then warily picked one and placed it to his lips. Shinji held out his lighter and lit it, then gestured to Shuuhei he should inhale. The Shinigami did as told and immediately coughed as the smoke tickled his throat. The blond Visored chuckled while smoking his own cigarette and blowing smoke rings into the air.

"Never smoked before, eh? You're such a kid, Hisagi." Shuuhei was still pumped up from the fight, no matter how easy it had been. The adrenaline flowed in his veins and he almost felt like going on the prowl to look for more Hollows to kill. He had to shake his head a little noticing these thoughts and heard his Zanpakutou clamoring in the background of his mind. It had a blast, doing what it loved. Beheading monsters and maybe other living beings on the side, good fun. _Maybe to him but I'd like to keep my own head, thank you. _

"So how come you're still out and about at this hour?" Shinji asked and tapped off some ash of the end of his cigarette.

"Couldn't sleep" Shuuhei muttered back while trying to get the hang of this smoking thing. The blond man raised his eyebrows and hummed.

"Guess that makes two of us then" he said. For few minutes they stood in silence, the bluish smoke from their cigarettes travelling up to the night sky. Shuuhei looked at the man warily from under his brow while trying not to cough again. He wondered if he should ask him about Kensei. _Maybe they'd leave me be if I told him I know what they're up to. Yeah, just maybe…_

¨Why are you trying to harass me?" he asked Shinji who looked at him puzzled.

"Whaddya mean, Shinigami?"

"I mean, I'm just doing my job and I won't be here long so why do you want to bully me to leave" Shuuhei continued, leaving Shinji looking even more confused.

"Sorry kid but I have no idea what you're talking about" he replied, shrugging his shoulders and smothering his cigarette under his shoe.

"You know, sending Kens…Muguruma-sama after me" he explained but the blond Visored still didn't seem to understand.

"I haven't sent Kensei after you, neither has probably anyone else. He doesn't take orders kindly, you know." The young lieutenant frowned but the man seemed to be telling the truth. _But he didn't sent him…and no one else did too…then that means…_

"Oh right…I just thought…" Now Shinji started to look suspicious.

"What? Has he been harassing you or something?"

"Errr, well not exactly…"

"Hey listen Hisagi" Shinji said stepping closer and wrapped his arm around Shuuhei's shoulders, "don't worry about old Kensei, he's just been a bit grumpy after the war, you know. You can finish your mission just with just us, the sane ones in our group. Then you can go home and get this sorted." The blonde slapped the Shinigami on the back

"Um, thanks Hirako-san…I guess..." he muttered, still trying to digest this new information.

"Don't sweat it kid, we all want the same and that's getting you out of our hair as soon as possible. Right?" Shuuhei nodded slowly, not really listening anymore. But Shinji didn't seem to notice and just smiled at him widely.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye!" Before Shuuhei could ask anything else, the Visored shunpo'd away leaving behind only the stump of his cigarette. Shuuhei felt his fingers burn and dropped his own to the ground, quickly stomping it out. _So…What the hell now?_

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Hisagi- san!" Mashiro greeted and almost leaped to the man's arms as he entered their headquarters next morning. She had taken a liking to the young man, hanging around with the same stuck-up Visored got a bit tiring after a century or so. <em>Being interviewed by a handsome young vice- captain, not such a bad way to spend an afternoon, <em>she giggled mentally while linking her elbow with Shuuhei's and leaning her head against his shoulder.

"So how's your report doing?" she chirped while walking the young man towards the stairs that lead to the training grounds.

"Err, just fine, thank you" he mumbled, trying to shake her off. But her grip was like steel.

"Anything about me in it?" she asked batting her eyelids at him. Shuuhei looked at the woman with confusion. He was quite used to this kind of behavior from Rangiku but not really from anyone else.

"Well, just basic information really, nothing specific" he said, trying to ignore Mashiro's flirting attempts and concentrate on walking.

They descended the steps to the training grounds, where the rest of the Visoreds were already waiting. This time Hiyori and Kensei were there too. Shuuhei felt his breath hitch in his throat and his stomach fill with butterflies by the mere sight of the man. At the moment the Visoreds were watching Lisa and Love spar together inside a large barrier, the smaller and more agile woman easily dodging the man's brute attacks. They both had drawn on their masks but hadn't released their Zanpakutous, the barrier probably couldn't take that much of force.

"He's here!" Mashiro announced as they moved closer to the Visoreds. Hiyori glared at Shuuhei but didn't leave, just pouted her mouth. Rorujo waved his hand idly as a greeting and Shinji nudged his head up, Hachi was busy guarding the barrier. Kensei was sitting on a rock near the barrier next to Hachi and just glanced at the newcomers. As he saw Mashiro clinging on Shuuhei, his eyes darkened and he snapped his head back.

"Hachi, open the barrier, I'll go in" he ordered the big man, standing up and grabbing his Zanpakutou from his boot. The Kido master raised an eyebrow to Kensei, who was already spinning his weapon on his finger.

"Fine then. " Hachi made a simple gesture, which opened a doorway in the barrier. The former captain stepped inside, waving to Love.

"My turn, Love" he said to the man who gratefully wiped sweat off his forehead.

"She's all yours, Kensei" he replied while walking out of the barrier. Lisa flicked her braided hair off her shoulder and concentrated her eyes on Kensei. Though she had been only a lieutenant while he had been a captain, their Hollow powers and time had narrowed the gap between their strength. But still, Kensei was a strong opponent and his fighting style wasn't as straight-forward and brutal as Love's.

"Ready?" she asked him, letting her reaitsu flow freely around her. The silver haired man nodded and crouched down a bit to a fighting stance.

"Let's go then" Lisa said, pulling her Hollow mask on and jumping up in the air, swinging her sword down at Kensei.

Shuuhei had managed to shake Mashiro off and was standing next to Shinji, watching the fight. It was impressive seeing the Visoreds spar with each other, their increased spirit power was overwhelming even when they hadn't released their Zanpakutous. Shuuhei remembered how they had made quick work out of the army of Menos and once again thanked their luck of having such powerful allies. _Or whatever they are. _

"So, found your way back I see" Shinji remarked casually while glancing at Mashiro from the corner of his eye. He had sensed the slight but still noticeable change in Kensei's reaitsu when Shuuhei had arrived with the former vice-captain drooling all over the young man. That, plus the strange remark that Shuuhei had made about Kensei last night and one only had to count two plus two to realize what was happening. Shinji wasn't really surprised, Kensei had been without a partner for almost all the time they had spent in the Real World so when some new handsome flesh on feet came walking in of course he would be interested. Not to mention the boy seemed to have some sort of my savior- complex concerning Kensei. _He's making it way too easy for him, _Shinji smirked inwardly.

"Yeah" the young man replied, staring intently at the two Visoreds inside the barrier. _Or maybe just the other one, _Shinji mused to himself.

"Did you manage to get any sleep?" he grinned while leaning back with his hands behind his head. Shuuhei just shrugged, apparently small talk wasn't nearly as fascinating as watching his hero pretty much wipe the floor with Lisa. Usually they were pretty much equal but now Kensei seemed to be after blood and was pushing Lisa on her limits. She already had several small cuts on her body and was busy trying to fend the man off.

Kensei struck down with his Zanpakutou, forcing Lisa almost to her knees from the sheer force of the impact.

"What the fuck's wrong with you Kensei" she groaned between her clenched teeth. The man didn't answer and before Lisa had time to dodge, his foot swung to her side, flying her across the training ground and almost crashing into the barrier wall. Shinji quickly got up and grabbed his own sword.

"Hachi, open the barrier. This is going too far." The huge man quickly obliged and Shinji entered inside the barrier, stepping between Kensei and Lisa, who was still fighting to get back on her feet.

"Get lost, Shinji, I can handle him" she wheezed while holding onto her side. Shinji could already see blood dripping from her wounds.

"You obviously can't so get out and get healed while I hammer some sense to this brute" he replied, keeping his eyes on the berserk Kensei.

"What's up, big guy?" he hollered at him while improving his grip on his Zanpakutou. Kensei let his Hollow mask disintegrate and glared at the blonde.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the way you battered Lisa just now, boke! What the hell's the matter with you?" Shinji pointed his sword at the man who was now circling slowly around him.

"We've talked about this Kensei" he said in a lower tone so others couldn't hear them, "you need to keep yourself under control."

"I'm trying but you're in my way." Shinji saw how Kensei's eyes started to go black and his voice had an eerie echo to it.

"This is not the way we deal with it. Kensei" he tried to persuade the man who was now growling lowly at him like a beast that was about to strike on its prey.

"Kensei, calm. The fuck. Down." He barely managed to block the man's strike that made his arm go numb. Shinji stared into Kensei's black eyes and heard his maniacal chuckling that sends shivers down his spine.

"Alright that's it" he groaned and pushed the man back. He waved his hand to Hachi while slowly walking closer to the barrier wall.

"Hey Hachi, open the barrier, Kensei needs to cool down a bit"¨ he hopped closer to the entrance as Kensei approached him, his Hollow mask was starting to form on his face again. Shinji leaped out of the barrier then stretched his hand out towards Kensei.

"Bakudo no. 63: Sajo Sabaku!" Yellow energy ropes appeared around Kensei and bound themselves around him, tying him effectively and making him fall to his knees.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled at Shinji while Hachi sealed to barrier shut again. The others had come closer to watch the spectacle. Shinji wiped sweat off his forehead and exhaled deeply, then turned around to see Shuuhei staring at them with his eyes wide.

"What the hell was all that about?" The Visoreds glanced at their leader, who sighed and walked to Shuuhei, then wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"I think there might be a small detail you ought to know about…"

* * *

><p><strong>Free cyberhugs for reviews!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**More thanks to more lovely, fluffy, fabulous and shiny people who have reviewed and/or favorited this story thus far: Amethystina, BloodRoseNinja, Mesutora, sweetlilone,****Saya and Hagi together 4 ever, Neko-chan desu desu, .sora and Keryous Seastryder (hope I spelled everything right and remembered everyone). Your love is much appreciated and cherished. And to Collette Nicole, since I couldn't reply to your review I'll just say many thanks to you here, you don't have to review every chapter and I understand that people have better things to do than say a few words about a silly fanfic. I hope you get better soon and enjoy this new chapter too.**

**I've noticed that the characters are getting more and more chatty by the chapter. I hope my dialogue isn't too bad, otherwise that's no good. Things get little mushy/smutty at the end of this chapter, so be warned. Hope you don't mind it though.**

**Chapter 4.**

"He's what?" Shuuhei stared at Shinji with unbelief in his eyes. The blond Visored leaned back on the couch and spun his hat on his finger again.

"A bit rabid at times, that's all. It's not that big of a deal, really…"

"Not a big deal? He almost killed Lisa- san, and could've hurt you badly too!"

"Naah, I'd have him before he could've even touch me" Shinji waved his hand dismissively and placed his hat back on his head. He looked at the young vice- captain in the eyes.

"Hisagi, I know that might've looked bad but trust me, it's nothing. The Hollow side is just sometimes a bit stronger…"

"But I thought you all had dealt with that problem ages ago with your training" Shuuhei interrupted. Shinji sighed again and rubbed his temples.

"Well yes, technically but in times when one is under some serious pressure or going through some tough emotional stuff it's easier for the Hollow to break through. But we've learned to control it. Mostly."

"Well it didn't seem like that. What is wrong with Kens…Muguruma- san anyway, have you found out?" Shuuhei was worried, he knew he'd have to report about this to the Seireitei and he didn't think they'd appreciate having eight potential killing machines roaming around in the Real World. _This is bad,_he thought while nervously tapping the hilt of Kazeshini that he had placed upon his knees. The sword had stirred from the immense reaitsu that had been released in the underground bunker during Kensei's breakdown and had been humming in the back of his mind ever since, wanting to get his piece of the action.

Shinji shrugged at first but then froze, glanced around them to see if anyone was close enough to hear and then leaned forward to Shuuhei, gesturing him to lean in to listen carefully.

"What exactly did you mean by saying that Kensei came after you?" Shuuhei flinched but tried to cover it.

"Wha- what do you mean by that?" Shinji rolled his eyes impatiently and then glanced at the young man from under his brow.

"You know that 'some serious pressure' can translate into 'goddamn-fucking horny'?" Now the vice-captain pulled away from Shinji, looking a little panicky. This made the former captain laugh out loud, _he really is just a kid._

"Oh don't be so scared, Hisagi. Kensei might look all tough and macho but he's a screaming bender all the way, if you don't mind my French. Though I don't think the other one usually does the screaming and bending…Anyway, on top of that, I happen to know that you're just his type." Shuuhei was now blushing fiercely, trying to avoid looking straight at the former captain whose huge teeth were almost sparkling as he smirked widely.

"Though I admit, it is a bit creepy that the last time he saw you was when you were just a little kid and now he's after your sweet ass…But what can you do, having a Hollow inside you makes your basic instincts act out a bit."

"So it seems" Shuuhei huffed out, his face burning with embarrassment and Shinji's grin didn't help at all.

_Probably would've been better if it had all been just a joke, if everyone knows that I'm the reason he's gone mad as hell…I'm good as fucked. No no no no no no, not fucked, bad, bad choice of words…_Shinji chuckled as he seemed to know exactly what Shuuhei was thinking.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. Kensei's just a tad bit…frustrated, he hasn't had any for some time and now when a sweet piece of ass just waltzes in here all 'oh Muguruma- sensei, my hero!' of course he's bound to get a bit worked up" he blabbered on, wanting to see if Shuuhei's face could get any redder than it already was.

"But…but then why did he go berserk like that, I didn't do anything did I?" Shinji frowned a bit and tapped his chin with his index finger.

"I think that Kensei might've gotten a bit jealous when he saw Mashiro drooling all over you when you arrived. You see, she has bit of a reputation around here." Now it was Shuuhei's turn to frown.

"What sort of reputation?" Shinji rolled his eyes again, did he really have to spell everything out for this kid?

"Meaning she's bit of a slag, you know, goes through men like underwear? That sort of reputation."

"Oh" the vice- captain seemed bit taken aback, "really?"

"Yes, really" the blonde repeated, "but don't tell her I told you, she'll hand us our collective asses on a silver plate if she hears about this. But in the mean time, try to stay away from her, tell her you're gay if nothing else helps. Or an eunuch, that would probably work better."

"Why can't you just tell her to leave me alone?" Shuuhei seemed nervous at the possibility of having to turn down Mashiro, she was used to having her way.

"'Cause if I tell her that Kensei is lusting after you she'll probably take it as a challenge and then we'll have a real bloodbath in our hands. Your blood mostly since they'd probably tear you to shreds while fighting over you…" Shinji's voice trailed off as they imagined the view he had just described.

Shuuhei shuddered as did Shinji and then they both bounced back, shaking their heads slightly at the image. The young vice- captain frowned at the blond ex-captain, rewinding all that he had said in his head.

"I sure as hell did not go all fanboy on Muguruma- san" he muttered to his knees, making the Visored burst into laughter again.

"Well maybe not but it wasn't that far away from it. You don't really have to do or say anything with that thing on your face" he said and reached out to poke the tattooed number on Shuuhei's cheek. The young man pulled back at the touch and rubbed the spot on his face, feeling quite self- conscious again.

"So what should I do then, besides avoiding Mashiro- san" he asked the other man, who was now leaning his chin on the hilt of his Zanpakutou that he had placed in front of him. He huffed out a breath and seemed to weigh out his options.

"Well, either you can try and avoid Kensei for the few days you'll be here but that might just make him angrier and who knows what he'd do to you then…or to us, for that matter." The mental image of Kensei going even more berserk than before wasn't a comforting one and they both rejected option A quite quickly.

"What's the other option?"

"Well", Shinji began, a sly grin spreading slowly to his face. Shuuhei didn't like where this was going but he had to listen anyway.

"The easier option would of course be that you let him have his fun with you and we'd all be home for cornflakes, so to speak."

"And how'd you suppose I do that?"

"Oh I don't know, do that fanboy stuff that you do, 'oh Muguruma- sensei, you're so strong and brave, take me now!' " Shinji's high pitch imitation of Shuuhei's voice made the young man cringe and the implications made him blush again.

"I sound nothing like that" he mumbled again, his fingers fidgeting on the hilt of Kazeshini, who was snarling at the back of his mind, ushering him to shut the insolent blonde up. Shinji shook his head and flashed his white teeth at him again, looking quite amused.

"That's not the point, Shinigami, the point is that you do something so we don't have to witness another incident of Kensei going bonkers again, that shouldn't be so hard for a handsome young man like you. Casually drop a pen or something in front of him and bend over to pick it up." Now Shinji was having difficulties speaking behind his suppressed chuckles as he imagined the vice-captain's corny flirting attempts towards their brute friend. Shuuhei didn't seem to see the funny side of things and stood up from his seat, sliding his sword back to his belt and straightened the cuffs of his shirt. The blonde man eyed him from head to toe and sniggered again.

"What's so funny this time?" the young man asked tiredly, not really even wanting to hear the answer.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all" Shinji replied and leant back on the couch, crossing his arms behind his head. That moment Hachi suddenly appeared behind him, his face holding its usual solemn expression.

"Heyyy Hachi, how's our friend doin'?" the blond Visored asked the huge man, who nodded slightly.

"He's coming to, though I'd advise that he'd be left alone for a few hours more. He's still quite agitated."

"That's one word for it" Shinji grinned, glancing at Shuuhei from the corner of his eye. Hachi followed his eyes and then raised his eyebrows slightly.

"I suspected as much" he just remarked, then turned around and huddled away. Shuuhei stared at the man's back with confusion and wanted to smack himself on the forehead. _Is it really that obvious? Hell, it really would've been better if this had been a joke._

"Right, sooooo Hisagi, whatcha gonna do now?" Shinji asked, looking quite perky at the moment. The vice-captain sighed and ran his hand through his messy black spikes and even Shinji noticed himself admiring the youngster's good looks. _Can't really blame Kensei for getting so worked up seeing Mashiro all over the one guy he's actually into in decades. This whole situation is just sad, Kensei's the old horny pervert and Hisagi his young naïve fanboy, geez what a mess. Glad I can just enjoy and watch it all,_Shinji giggled mentally while watching the vice-captain pace around.

"I don't know, this is all just so…weird. I didn't sign up for this" Shuuhei moaned and fidgeted with his hands. Despite his nervousness, the idea of…giving in to Kensei wasn't… so bad. _But if he's like that…god, he'd tear my ass apart, maybe little too literally._Shuuhei reminisced on his previous sexual experiences with men, they had happened a long time ago but he had always enjoyed himself and so had his partners. He didn't really favour one gender for the other, it was more about the individual person who he felt attracted to. And Kensei was pretty damn attractive, come to think of it. _You're not helping yourself at all, baka._

"Should I just go and talk to him then?"

"Maybe later, now he might be too worked up to do anything but fuck the living daylights out of you" Shinji cackled under his breath.

"Why don't you just do what you came here for and we'll figure out all this Kensei- stuff later, once your report is done." Shuuhei frowned at the former captain.

"You know I need to include this kind of behavior to my report, if there is the chance that any of you can suddenly turn into a manic Hollow from the slightest of pressure the Seireitei must know."

"But nothing has happened in the last hundred years" Shinji groaned, "why would it start happening now?"

"Well maybe we've just had good luck until now." The blond man moaned and snatched his hat off his head.

"Oh c'mon Hisagi, you've seen us, we just want to be left alone! If you hadn't come here, none of this would've happened! So there's all the more reason why you should just let us be!"

Shuuhei sighed and let his head drop. This wouldn't get them anywhere.

"Fine, fine, fine" he huffed out, scratching the back of his head in defeat, "guess it can't be helped. Let's just get on with what we were supposed to do."

* * *

><p>Urahara watched Shuuhei sitting across the table and poke his food. The young man had barely touched his dinner or said a word all night besides the common pleasantries. The children had already excused themselves and Tessai was hassling around in the kitchen.<p>

"Something wrong, Hisagi-san?" the shop owner asked. The vice captain glanced at him from under his brow and shook his head a little.

"Nothing, Urahara-san."

"Yeah, try to sound just a bit more implausible next time, will you?" Urahara replied and snapped his fan open, covering the lower half of his face with it, "just tell me, won't you? Maybe I can help."

"I really don't think so, Urahara-san" Shuuhei mumbled and moved his rice around the plate, "it's complicated. And personal."

"Oh so is this about Kensei-san?" Shuuhei almost impaled his plate with his fork. Urahara chuckled and fanned his face lazily.

"Guess I hit the nail on the head there."

"Errrr…" the young man knew it was probably useless trying to deny anything now. His kneejerk reaction of stabbing the plate had most likely ratted him out.

"You thought I wouldn't notice when such a powerful reaitsu suddenly appears near my home? Or when you sneaked out in the middle of the night? Please Hisagi, you should give me little more credit" the shop owner said from behind his fan. Shuuhei let the fork drop to the plate and placed his head to his hands.

"I don't know what I should do" he groaned while pulling out his hair. Urahara hemmed and shuffled himself closer to the distressed young man.

"Don't beat yourself over it, it's not your fault. Or maybe you shouldn't have tattooed that number on your cheek…" Shuuhei glared at the man between his fingers, silencing him effectively.

"Or never mind that, let's just focus on the problem at hand. I heard what Kensei did, that must've been quite a sight." The vice-captain shuddered at the memory of the insane reaitsu flaring around the former captain, his brute Hollow strength almost cracking the barrier's walls.

"It was…amazing" he sighed and almost slapped himself for saying that out loud.

"Well yes, power can be very sexy" Urahara chuckled, earning another glare from the young man.

"Oh c'mon, you have to admit that this is pretty hilarious" the man continued. Shuuhei harrumphed and raised his head from his hands, running his fingers through his black hair.

"Maybe you should go see him now, he's probably calmed down already." The vice-captain scoffed and looked at the shopkeeper as if he was joking.

"I'm serious, you know" the man said, his expression pretty much unreadable behind his fan. Shuuhei scowled at the man and shook his head.

"I don't think it would be very wise for me to go around there this late. They had enough of me stalking around in the day" he said with a sigh again, feeling a sudden need to bang his head against something hard.

"Well maybe you'd like to spar with me, that could distract your thoughts from Kensei-san." The vice-captain considered the offer, it would be quite a treat to get to spar with such a legendary Shinigami. But would he be too caught up in his thoughts that he'd just instantly lose? Kazeshini purred in his mind from the possibility of getting out to play, especially with such a strong opponent.

"_C'mon Shinigami, just do it! Otherwise you'll just prove that you are the pansy ass pussy I know you are"_the spirit chuckled lowly in the back of his head.

"_We can have him"_ it added, now its voice softer and somehow even more frightening than before. Shuuhei could almost feel the sword's reaitsu reaching out and caressing his skin, although he could also sense the murderous intent behind the touch.

"Alright" he said to Urahara, still unable to read his expression with his face and eyes covered by his hat and the fan.

"Excellent" the man replied, rising up from the floor and starting to walk towards the entrance to the training grounds, "after me, Hisagi- san."

Just an hour later and Shuuhei was sweating like a pig. The shopkeeper wasn't letting him down easy, with his exceeding experience he could've easily wiped the floor with Shuuhei but he could sense he was holding back quite a bit. The vice-captain improved his grip on his Zanpakutou's hilt and tried to steady his breath. Urahara walked casually around him, tapping his shoulder with the blade of his Benihime.

"You should at least release your Zanpakutou, Hisagi- san" he remarked smilingly, "you're making this way too hard for yourself."

"I know" he panted out, straightening himself and swallowing hardly. His sword's spirit had been taunting him for the past hour, itching for release.

"Fear of your own power maybe good, but if you let that get in the way of your fighting, it's gonna be a problem."

"I know" Shuuhei repeated between his clenched teeth, feeling how his Zanpakutou's bloodlust was starting to rub on him too.

Urahara smirked, he could feel the young man's reaitsu starting to flare with anger.

"Let it all out, Hisagi-san, if you wanna walk away from this with your own two feet" he said, then launched at him, swinging his sword to his stomach. Shuuhei quickly blocked the attack and jumped back, creating save distance between him and the crazy old man. _He really meant that,_he realized while trying to focus his eyes on the man. The ex- captain had moved so fast he was lucky he had been able to block that attack on time, otherwise he'd be looking at his own innards now. _Got to focus more, he's not even serious yet._

"_Release me, you idiot! Do you want to die before you've had it off with your new boyfriend, do you?" _Kazeshini screamed in his head.

"Shut it" he growled under his breath, not wanting to let Urahara see how well he got on with his own Zanpakutou.

"Your Zanpakutou is right, you should listen to your own soul more carefully" the shopkeeper grinned. Shuuhei firmed his grip on the sword and glared at it, like the spirit had personally ratted him out.

"I can hear it crying out to you, even Benihime can feel it" Kisuke continued, raising his sword up. Shuuhei could see how the blade vibrated in the air and noticed how his own sword was doing the same, anxious to be released. His instincts were again against the idea of fighting with a such a cruel weapon with only one purpose but still he knew that if he wanted to survive and improve, he needed to overcome that fear and step beyond it. He raised his sword in front of him and closed his eyes, focusing on the Zanpakutou's reaitsu and letting it entwine with his, steering it to the blade till it almost hummed.

"Reap" he whispered almost inaudibly, "Kazeshini."

Urahara took a step back and raised his sword to cover his face when Shuuhei's reaitsu flared up all around him, reaching for the skies above. He hid his ever-widening smile behind his arm. _Now that's what I wanted to see._He didn't have time to admire the vice-captain's power when he already had to block a scythe that spun wildly towards him. The former captain directed the scythe away with a strike form his Zanpakutou but already the other end of the weapon was heading towards him, forcing him to use shunpo to dodge it. _He's reaitsu is at least at captain's level…no wonder he made quick work of that Fraccion once he used this Shikai._Urahara reappeared behind Shuuhei, striking a blow to his side when he heard the already too familiar sound of chain swirling through the air behind him. Instead of trying to hit the vice-captain, he had to turn around to block the blade that would have beheaded him the next second.

Shuuhei drew the scythes back to his hands, turning around to look at Urahara who was looking quite impressed already.

"Can you see how it moves?" he asked, starting to spun the other scythe above his head, the whirring sound made his skin crawl.

"Soon" Urahara replied and Shuuhei could almost swear the man's smile was just widening. He didn't seem a least bit afraid, probably because he knew that if things got too ugly, he could always blast the young vice-captain to smithereens with his Kidou spells.

"So I still have little time to live, eh?" he asked, hearing Kazeshini's manic laughter in his head, thirsty for blood.

"A few minutes maybe" the shopkeeper said, feeling his own Zanpakutou vibrate in the presence of this amount of reaitsu. His smile widened as the scythes started spinning towards him again, cutting the air with their screeching sound that was filled with promises of pain and hunger for blood.

* * *

><p>For the first time in weeks, Shuuhei fell asleep the second he fell to his bed. He was so exhausted from the fight with Urahara he didn't even bother changing his clothes. He had left his gigai to his room earlier and now the mod soul was hunched in the corner, looking quite eerie in the darkness of the room. Luckily Shuuhei was too tired to even notice it as his eyes closed as soon as his head hit the pillow beneath it. But even if he was asleep, his dreams haunted him so that he trashed around in his bed. He could hear the screams of his comrades as they fell in the battle against Aizen and his minions, see how blood gushed from their wounds as they were stricken down by their enemies and feel the terror take over his mind as he saw the lifeless bodies of his friends all around. The horror seeing his own captain take the form of a hideous beast and attack captain Komamura, the moment when his own sword pierced Tousen's throat…The weight of his body in his arms as he changed back to his human form, right before Aizen killed him right in front of his eyes.<p>

Shuuhei woke up, feeling a scream already form in his throat as he snapped his eyes open and instead of a gory battle field only saw the roof of his room. His chest heaved as he tried to erase the horrible images from his mind and his hand went instinctively to the scar on his abdomen. _Captain…_ The feeling still haunted him, no matter what he did. He could feel tears burning his eyes and pressed his face into his hands, trying to muffle the sobs that his horrid dreams had prompted.

"You alright, kid?" The voice startled Shuuhei so badly he jumped out of his bed and quickly scrambled into the corner, raising his hands before him ready to impale the intruder with his Kidou.

"Who…who's there?" he had to clear his throat to make an audible sound and steady his voice. He tried to sense the intruder's reaitsu but either he didn't have any or he was suppressing it quite well. A large form moved in the other corner of the room near his gigai and stepped into the narrow ray of moonlight that shone through the window.

Shuuhei swallowed and lowered his hands slowly, trying to take in the image before him.

"Ke-Kensei-sama?" The man scoffed and threw his head back, annoyed smirk gracing his features that looked more defined in the pale light.

"I told you kid, stop using those honorifics on me. I feel old enough as it is. Besides, I'm still not your captain." The young man was still panting for breath, he wasn't yet quite sure what was real and what wasn't. The memories of the war had felt so vivid and the current situation felt so weird he was almost inclined to believe he had just passed out on the battle field and was dreaming all of this.

"You seemed you were having a bad dream" Kensei continued as he stepped closer to Shuuhei. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe that this same man had gone totally berserk and had to be sealed within a strong barrier to keep him from harming others.

"Wh—why are you here?" he breathed out, still feeling edgy from the situation.

"I…I wanted to explain what happened earlier today" Kensei muttered, looking a bit embarrassed. Shuuhei frowned and let his hands drop to his lap, he was too tired to care anymore. _If this is all a dream and I'm about to die…Well, so be it then. I've done what I can and I just want to rest._

"What is it then" he sighed, pulling himself back on the bed while keeping his eyes on the former captain. Kensei looked around the room and then to Shuuhei, pointing at his bed.

"May I sit?" The vice-captain gestured him to sit down and the old bed creaked as the Visored sat on its edge, his back to Shuuhei. The young man could see how the former captain was wrenching his hands in his lap, obviously feeling nervous. His reaitsu control was slipping and Shuuhei could feel a strange tingling on his skin as the weird mixture of Shinigami and Hollow reaitsu flowed softly from the man's body. He had to shake his head to clear his mind and focus on the man himself.

"So, what did you want to say to me" he asked quietly, the atmosphere in the room felt so charged he was afraid of even speaking out loud. After witnessing what Kensei was capable of and learning what triggered it, Shuuhei was cursing that he had dropped Kazeshini on the floor right after he had entered his room and it was now lying five feet away. Way too far for him to reach it on time if Kensei went berserk again.

"Please, don't be afraid of me, kid. I never meant to…I just…ah" the older man pressed his face into his hands and inhaled deeply, his whole body heaving. His reaitsu was tangling to Shuuhei, wrapping itself around him as if wanting to embrace him. The vice-captain shifted in his place, he wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or scared by the man's presence.

"Did Shinji explain things to you? the man asked, his husky and low voice made butterflies form in Shuuhei's stomach. He mentally cursed his own perverted mind and tried to stay focused.

"Yes, he did…But I'm not sure if it makes things any better."

"Well if he said what I thought he did it only makes them worse, for me at least" the older man scoffed and turned to look at Shuuhei. The young man was relieved to see that his eyes weren't tainted by the blackness of his Hollow form.

"Are you still scared of me?" he asked, his voice now so low Shuuhei almost had hard time hearing his words. He instinctively leaned forward and weighed his answer carefully.

"Yes" he replied, feeling somehow embarrassed by the fact. The feeling only grew as he saw the pained look in Kensei's eyes.

"I would never hurt you" the former captain whispered, forcing Shuuhei to lean even closer to him.

"I know" came his automatic answer, without a single thought to it. Now he was so close he could hear the man's slow breathing and feel it on his skin. It made the hairs in the back of his neck stand up. He felt drawn to the man's brown eyes whose gaze held none of the violence he had witnessed earlier that day. His silvery hair seemed to glow in the moonlight, it looked so soft Shuuhei wanted to run his fingers through it. His mouth felt suddenly dry and he licked his lips and only then realizing how that must've looked to the other man. He felt a blush creeping up his neck to his face, staining his cheeks with red.

He lowered his head so Kensei wouldn't see his face, but then felt a warm hand gently cup his chin and raising it up.

"Don't get shy on me kid, I came by just to see you and now you're trying to hide your pretty face from me" the man smirked at him, running his thumb over the tattoo on his cheek. His words did nothing to help Shuuhei's blushing and he felt as if his whole face was on fire. His mind was blank, his palms were sweaty and his heart was racing, all because of the man was touching him ever so slightly.

"Have you any idea what you do to me?" Kensei asked, his voice hoarse from restraint. The young man opened his mouth to answer but no words came out, just like before when Kensei had kissed him. The former captain's smirk toned down into a smile as he leaned in closer, firming his grip on Shuuhei's chin so he couldn't turn away. Shuuhei closed his eyes when the man's face was only inches away from his, parting his lips instinctively.

Kensei pressed his lips firmly against Shuuhei's mouth, the young man let out a quiet yelp as they touched but didn't try to pull away. The older man loosened his grip on his chin as he noticed he wasn't going anywhere and hummed pleasantly, moving his hand to Shuuhei's neck and pulled him closer. The vice-captain shuffled himself closer, reaching his hand out to touch Kensei. His fingers went automatically to the man's chest, caressing the spot where his tattoo was through his shirt. He moaned softly as Kensei probed his mouth with his tongue, slowly sliding it in when he didn't protest. The man's lips were surprisingly soft and his touch tender, he couldn't believe him to be the same person that had bashed people around just few hours before.

Shuuhei felt his muscles slowly relax and gave into the man's touch, tilting his head slightly to the side so he could deepen the kiss more. Kensei had slowly wrapped his other arm around the young man's waist, pressing their upper bodies together. Their tongues entwined as Shuuhei shyly responded to the other man's touch. The vice-captain's mind was now filled with the taste of Kensei's lips, the hot feel of his hands on his skin and the scent of his skin that was a sweet mixture of sweat and some earthy scent, probably his aftershave. Shuuhei got goosepumps all over his body as the man's hands slowly caressed his neck and slid between his clothes, he could already feel the familiar heat pooling down to his groin. Part of him wanted to just pull the man on top of him but a voice of reason nagged somewhere in his brain, scolding him of his stupid this was and that he should stop while he could. _But I don't want to, _he moaned again as Kensei's calloused hand stroked the tender skin below his navel, feeling his cock twitch from the touch.

"Kensei- sama" he breathed as they parted the kiss for a moment. The older man rolled his eyes but still they were shining with glee.

"How many times do I need to tell you kid" he mumbled softly as he caressed Shuuhei's neck, twirling his fingers around the strands of silky black hair.

"At least one more time" the young man replied, shifting his body closer and placing his free hand on the waist of Kensei's trousers, tugging them lightly. The former captain raised an eyebrow to him, flashing him a cockeyed grin.

"So eager, are we?"

"Do you mind?" Kensei snorted out a quiet laugh, pulling Shuuhei to his lap and kissing his neck.

"Do I look like I mind?" he muttered against the young man's sensitive skin. Shuuhei couldn't answer, he was busy trying to catch his breath as the man slowly planted a path of kisses along his neck and jawline.

"We-I-We shouldn't be doing this" he managed to huff out just when Kensei kissed the corner of his mouth. The man's shoulders moved up and down as he chuckled quietly. He looked Shuuhei in the eyes, his gaze leaving no room for objections.

"Again, do I look like I mind?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Btw, anyone else getting tired that apparently the only way to express the passing of time in Bleach is by changing a character's hairstyle? Few I could take but even Kenpachi? C'mon, now you're just making me sad (I miss those little bells, snif). And where's Byakuya's hairpiece? But anyways, here's the new chapter, sorry it took so long. Hope you like it, let me know.**

**Chapter 5. **

Shuuhei didn't protest when Kensei slowly pushed his uniform off his shoulders, his hands roaming the young man's upper body, tracing the lines of muscles and scars. His fingers stopped at the most recent scar, the one done by Tousen's sword. Shuuhei shuddered and moved to push the older man's hand away.

"Please, don't…" he whispered while entwining his fingers with Kensei's. The man pressed his forehead against Shuuhei's, his other hand stroking the young man's side.

"Did he do that to you" he asked quietly, firming his grip on the other's hand.

"Yeah" Shuuhei sighed, lowering his eyes, he couldn't look at Kensei right at that moment. The older man sighed, planted a kiss on his lips and used his free hand to press Shuuhei's head to the crook of his neck.

"Stupid kid" he mumbled while running his hand through the black messy spikes and pressed kisses on his head.

"What's stupid about it" the vice- captain muttered back, pressing his hand flat against the man's chest "that I trusted him, that I wanted to believe in my own captain, that I needed someone to guide me when I was lost, that I…" Kensei silenced Shuuhei's ranting by pressing one finger on his lips, his solemn gaze calming the young man down.

"You know I didn't mean that" he said, a small smile playing on his lips, "that's why you're stupid." He kissed the young man again, running his tongue along Shuuhei's lips, making him open his mouth and slid his tongue in. Shuuhei moaned, partly in protest and partly from pleasure. His fingers curled against Kensei's chest, bundling the fabric of the shirt into his fist.

"I hate you" he groaned as Kensei pulled back, biting his lower lip gently. The man chuckled, pecking the tip of Shuuhei's nose.

"I know" he replied, ruffling the young man's hair. The vice-captain scowled at him but didn't pull away.

"Yet there you still are" Kensei smirked and raised his legs on the bed, wrapping the other around Shuuhei and effectively locking him in place.

"And now you can't run away" he continued and started to trail kisses along the young man's neck and bare chest. Shuuhei's breath hitched and he grabbed the back of Kensei's head, sinking his fingers into the man's silvery hair.

"You still think we shouldn't do this?" the man chuckled against his skin, his hot breath making Shuuhei shudder involuntarily.

"Ah…I…I…Shit" the young man managed to groan as Kensei continued gracing his upper body with his mouth.

The older man barely could contain himself. His inner Hollow was aching for him to ravish the young boy right then and there but he tried to hold it back, he had seen the look on the kid's face and it had spelled out sheer terror. That's the last thing he wanted to see in the kid's eyes when he looked at him, he wanted to see his eyes glazed over with lust and want. He wanted to hear Shuuhei begging for him, see him writhe under his touch and scream out his name. _That'll probably have to wait until later, _he thought and quickly felt nearby reiatsu's.

Of course Urahara and Tessai were there, so were the kids. He had actually waited for the shopkeeper to barge in any second or at least try to stop him from entering his home. _Then again Kisuke's always been weird…I wouldn't be surprised if he was watching us right now, the old pervert. _Kensei tried to ignore the image of the creepy scientist peering through some hole in the wall and doing gods know what. _Not the time, _he grunted inwardly and focused his attention back to Shuuhei, who seemed to be pretty easy to seduce. He had barely touched the boy and he was already speechless.

"Am I going too fast?" he chuckled against Shuuhei's skin, not really wanting to stop caressing the young man. This all had been almost too easy.

"No…I just…I". Kensei cackled at the young man's response.

"I take that as a 'yes' anyway" he murmured back, slowly unwrapping his leg and arms around Shuuhei, who tried to grab hold of him.

"Wha-no, don't please" he pleaded, scrambling on the bed after Kensei. The man just shook his head sadly and gently wrenched his hands off him.

"You're not ready for me kid, look at yourself" he said, stroking Shuuhei's face with the back of his hand. The young man was still gripping tightly to his clothing, urging him to come back to bed.

"Please, don't leave now", Shuuhei knew how pitiful he sounded and wanted to hit himself for it, he could hear Kazeshini's frustrated grunting as even the spirit mocked him for being such a wuss. But he just wanted Kensei to stay, he had been so alone and staying in the Real World and seeing how close the Visoreds were with each other only made it all worse. He just wanted someone to be just his.

Kensei frowned as the young vice- captain looked at him with such a sudden panicky look in his eyes, as if a drowning man grasping onto a life buoy. He took hold Shuuhei's hands to his own and kissed them lightly which calmed him down a bit. _This kid has some serious problems, I don't know if I'm only making it worse for him. _

"Hey, don't be scared, I'm not going anywhere" he hushed as the young man laid his head on his chest. Soon he heard the muffled sobs as Shuuhei's control finally broke. Kensei carefully wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him back into his lap and soothing him down with his quiet words of comfort. _Shit, I didn't see this coming._

"Did you dream about the War?" he mumbled softly into Shuuhei's ear while stroking his hair and neck while the lithe body in his lap shook with sobs. Shuuhei nodded lightly with his head pressed against Kensei's chest, the warmth of his body feeling so comforting and safe.

"It's alright kid, no one blames you for it" the former captain continued, suddenly having flashbacks from years earlier when he had saved that young kid from being eaten by a Hollow.

That had been his last normal mission as a Shinigami and though he first hadn't recognized the boy as an adult, his face had been burned into his memory for probably forever. He hadn't really been able to comfort him back then but had still known that the kid was strong. He wasn't that surprised seeing him as a vice- captain and felt some sort of pride hearing about his accomplishments, how he had grown to be strong and wise, a real Shinigami. _And now he's practically in ruins, betrayed by everyone he looked up to and respected. Having to kill your own mentor and captain, such a horrible fate to face for such a young kid, _Kensei thought and was actually more surprised how well Shuuhei had suppressed his emotions thus far. Many men would have already cracked under the pressure, no one should be put under such strain.

"You've done great so far, it's okay to be weak sometimes" he whispered and planted a light kiss on Shuuhei's neck, feeling how the young man's arms gripped him tighter. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to leave him alone for the night but it didn't bother him. He preferred just staying with him rather than just having sex with him and leaving.

Though his first instinct when seeing the young man had been pure lust, after watching him for a few days and spending just few moments with him alone had changed it. Of course he still wanted Shuuhei like mad, especially his Hollow side that was still nagging at the back of his mind, but there was more to it. For the first time in decades he had someone else than the other Visoreds for company, someone who he could actually talk to for more than five minutes before feeling a sudden urge to punch something. Hard. Maybe through a wall. Being constantly on each others' skin could do that to a person over the period of a century or so. Especially if one of the people you're stuck with is Hiyori. Or Mashiro.

Just thinking about the green-haired little woman made Kensei's inner Hollow growl. The mere sight of seeing her clinging onto Shuuhei and practically eating him up with her eyes had been enough to send Kensei over the edge and into full blown rage that burned like white flames inside his skull. Just the memory of it made a low growl form in his throat and his muscles tightened, gripping more tightly into Shuuhei in his arms. He noticed this only when the young man let out a small pained moan and realised he was holding him much too tight. Kensei quickly loosened his grip and kissed Shuuhei's neck gently.

"Sorry I got distracted" he muttered. The young man just hemmed and nuzzled his head to the crook of Kensei's neck.

"It's okay, as long as you're there. I don't break that easily."

"Well that's good to know." Something in the former captain's voice made Shuuhei lift his eyes to him and frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kensei cackled and ruffled his hair affectionately, a wide grin splitting his face.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Now, are you feeling better?" he asked, pulling the young man away from his chest and staring him in the eyes. Shuuhei nodded slowly, then looked away from the other man, a slight blush staining his cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Listen, Kensei-sa…Kensei, I'm sorry for all this, I never meant to…" The older man just shook his head to him and chuckled again, silencing his rant.

"Hey, don't sweat it. If it bothered me, I'd already left. No, I'm here 'cause I want to be with you. I'm not just some old pervert" he smirked down at Shuuhei. The vice- captain managed to flash a small smile back at him.

"Not just? So there's more to you than that?"

"You'll just have to find out, won't you kid" he replied, pressing their mouths together to a soft kiss. Shuuhei moaned quietly at the touch, sliding his hands along Kensei's thighs toward his groin. The older man groaned and shifted uneasily in his place, trying to escape from the vice- captain's touch. He wanted nothing more but the growling of his inner Hollow made him wary, he didn't want to lose control and rape the young man by accident.

Shuuhei frowned as the former captain shifted away from his touch. He had thought Kensei wanted this, wanted him, that's the reason for this whole mess. He moved closer to the man, trying not to break the contact but the older man slipped away from under his hands and stood up next to the bed. Shuuhei opened his mouth to ask what the hell his problem was when he noticed how the man's hands were shaking and the corners of his eyes were beginning to turn black. Noticing Shuuhei's stare Kensei shook his head and clenched his hands into fists, inhaling deeply.

"I'm alright, I just…need few minutes to…you know." The vice- captain could already hear the small echoing in the Visored's voice, a sign that his inner Hollow was about to take control. His eyes automatically went to his Zanpakutou that was lying on the floor few feet away and his mind was flipping through useful Kido spells that wouldn't cause too much damage in the small room. Suddenly, he heard the door open and a ray of light lit the room. Both men turned to the door and saw the tall form of Tessai at the door. They instantly froze, both perfectly aware that the former Kido master could blow them into smithereens in a bat of an eyelid. He looked at them with his usual seriousness.

"I sensed your Hollow's reiatsu rising, Muguruma- dono. Is everything alright?" Kensei and Shuuhei glanced at each other, both quickly thinking of some kind of an excuse to explain the whole situation but then figured that it was probably useless, it was obvious that Tessai had known of Kensei's presence the whole time. So they decided to play it as cool as they could. Thinking back at it, somewhere in the distance Urahara had probably been laughing his ass off at the two men trying to act cool when Shuuhei looked as he'd been crying and Kensei's Hollow reiatsu was leaking so badly it almost woke up the kids.

"Everything's just fine, Tessai- san. Sorry for disturbing you" Kensei muttered, trying to avoid looking the man straight in the eyes. Luckily, Tessai's poker face couldn't be shaken from so little so he just nodded and exited the room with a small bow.

"Have a good night then, gentlemen" he bid them while sliding the door back shut. As soon as the door closed, Kensei and Shuuhei exhaled deeply, not even being aware that they had both held their breaths almost the whole time Tessai had been at the door.

Shuuhei lopped back on his bed, pressing his face in his hands. _Goddamnit this is so fucking embarrassing, _he cursed to himself, _Urahara will never let me live this down, fuck fuck fuck…_His cursing was stopped by the sound of Kensei's low chuckling and he looked up to see the older man's shoulders jumping up and down from his quiet laughter.

"This is not funny" he groaned at the man, who now burst into laughter and had to bend down, leaning his hands onto his knees.

"Stop laughing you idiot" he commanded but his statement was greatly weakened by the fact that Kensei's laughter was starting to get to him too. Soon were both laughing loudly at the whole situation but then tried to muffle their voices, not to disturb the other tenants any further. Kensei sat back on the bed, sliding himself next to Shuuhei and pulling him close, then buried his face to the young man's neck. His whole body kept shaking with laughter, as did Shuuhei's who was gripping into his hair and had pressed his head back to the crook Kensei's shoulder.

"This hasn't really gone the way I thought it would" the older man mumbled against his skin. Shuuhei just sighed deeply, again finding himself in a foreign situation which he didn't know how to handle. He was so used knowing what to do and being in control, he felt odd being like this. He didn't mind it so much though, the feeling he got from being held by Kensei was so overwhelming he would've let him do anything right now. _Well, maybe not anything but almost. _

"You still want me to stay?" Kensei asked him when their laughter had finally died down. Shuuhei nodded, his hair chafed against the older man's chest.

"Alright then, I'll stay" he continued, slowly unwrapping himself around the vice-captain. Shuuhei's uniform was still dangling on his hips and Kensei realized how that might've looked to Tessai. _Goddamnit, now he thinks I'm a complete old pervert. Well, that's not really anything new but still…_Shuuhei started to wriggle off the rest of his uniform, throwing it to the floor.

Kensei admired the young man's physique, in the pale light of the room every muscle and scar looked more defined, his body was of a true warrior's. But it seemed that unlike many male fighters, he didn't take any excessive pride in his battle wounds, they were just there as reminders that he had survived. And some had more to them than just that. He remembered his reaction when he had brushed over the deep scar on his abdomen that had almost killed him. Kensei's earlier jealous anger flared again, but this time against Aizen and especially Tousen. _That bastard, he deserved to die. _The young vice- captain turned back at him, sensing the change in his reiatsu again.

"What is it now?" he asked, trying to see if Kensei's eyes had started to turn black again. The former captain shook his head and looked back at Shuuhei, who was now wearing only his underwear and already lying slightly backwards on the bed. The sight was so invigorating his anger seemed to fade away in an instant and he leaned forward to pull the young man into a deep kiss.

"Are you having some sort of mood swings tonight?" Shuuhei asked when he pulled away, his hand still lingering on his neck. Kensei scoffed and caressed his jaw line with his thumb.

"You could call it that yeah" he replied, then stood up next to the bed to take off his own clothes. He pulled off his wife beater and threw it next to Shuuhei's uniform, then proceeded to unbuckle his belt. Shuuhei could feel his pulse starting to rise watching the former captain strip in front of him. He admired how the tattoo on his chest was consensual with his muscles, the inked numbers looked like they were just painted onto his skin. His eyes automatically dropped lower when he heard the clink of Kensei's belt buckle as his pants dropped to his ankles and the man stepped out of them, kicking them into the pile of clothes already on the floor. The former captain kept his underwear on and scooted on the bed next to Shuuhei, scrambling between the covers. He snuggled comfortably on the bed and then patted the spot next to him, grinning up to Shuuhei.

"C'mon kid, I won't bite." The young man chuckled and slid between the covers next to Kensei, first feeling a bit awkward lying next to another man. The feeling surpassed when the former captain wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, the warmth of his trained body felt comforting and relaxing. He snuggled himself better against the man so he could have as much bodily contact as possible and placed his head against his wide, muscular chest. Soon he felt his own muscles relax and yawned, hearing Kensei chuckle above him.

"Just go to sleep kid, you've earned it. I'll be here" he said softly and planted kisses on his forehead. Shuuhei tried to answer back but his words drowned in another yawn and his eyes suddenly felt incredibly heavy.

"You don't have to stay" he managed to mumble. The former captain uttered a small laugh and pressed his head against his.

"That's not what you said earlier. Besides, I'm too sleepy to leave so shut up and I'll talk to you in the morning." Shuuhei didn't bother to talk back anymore, just shut his eyes and let his head fall onto the pillow. The last thing his brain registered before falling asleep was the feeling of Kensei's hand gently stroking his cheek, tracing the line of the tattooed number on it.

The morning came too fast. Bright sunlight penetrated the room and stung Shuuhei's eyes, waking him up from his sweet sleep. Upon waking up, he realized that he had slept well for the first time in months. No nightmares, no trashing around at night trying to catch even an eyeful of sleep. He had fallen asleep the moment he had shut his eyes and hadn't woken up a single time after that, before now. He turned his head only to hit his nose to something hard and warm. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the obstacle before him. Slowly he realized he was staring at Kensei's chest, the former captain still fast asleep next to him. Shuuhei then noticed that the man's arm was still wrapped around his shoulders, his other arm draped over his stomach and their legs entwined under the blanket. _His arm must be asleep too if I've slept on it the whole night. It must've been a cold night too, I don't remember even getting hot during the night. Or then he's body temperature is pretty low. _

As Shuuhei was still wondering on his good night's sleep, Kensei groaned and shifted in his place, pulling the young man even closer to his body and nuzzling his nose into his black hair. The vice- captain frowned at the situation and didn't really know whether to try and wake up the man or just lay there for a little bit longer. He had no idea what the time was and was sure that soon enough either Urahara or Tessai would barge in and witness them in another compromising situation. _Though at this point, what does it really matter? Urahara knows already, and even Tessai- san isn't that thick. The Visoreds know too, they must know what causes Kensei's behavior. So that leaves my mission__…_

A dread crept into Shuuhei's mind as he looked at the man holding him. He was torn between his own personal feelings towards Kensei and his duty to Seireitei and the Soul Society. If he reported back at them that it was possible for the Visoreds to be overcome by their Hollow side if they experienced strong emotions, they'd most likely order them to be hunt down and exterminated like common Hollows. He shuddered at the mere thought, he remembered Shinji's words about how they hadn't had any problems before the Shinigami started to intervene in their business. They had risked their cover just to help them in the War, no one had asked them to help and why would they even care the Soul Society anymore?

_No, I can't turn them in, it's not right. They don't deserve to be treated like this in the first place, _he thought while reaching his hand up to caress Kensei's broad shoulders. The man grumbled and his hand curled tighter around Shuuhei's waist, making it almost hard for him to breathe. He tried to wriggle out but the man's hold was like steel.

"Kensei" he whispered quietly, trying to wake him up. The former captain just let out a small snore. Shuuhei tried to poke him in the ribs but again, no reaction. He sighed deeply and tried to free himself more forcefully, pushing the other man off him. Unfortunately, he either miscalculated the other man's weight or his own strength and ended up pushing Kensei off the bed and sent him rolling down to the floor. Shuuhei stared blankly over the edge of the bed, his hand reached towards the man on the floor. He cringed as he heard Kensei finally wake up, groaning lowly and rising up on his arms from the floor. He shook his head and turned to look at Shuuhei who was grinning apologetically at him.

"The hell…" he muttered, slowly realizing he wasn't exactly where he should be, "how'd I end up here?"

"Errr…" Shuuhei's hand went to the back of his head, ruffling his already messy hair. Kensei's angry mood faded instantly away looking at the young man's confused expression and he scrambled up from the floor. He grabbed Shuuhei's leg and pulled him to the edge of the bed so that he was between the young man's spread legs. He pressed their mouths together into a deep kiss, his arms wrapping around Shuuhei's narrow waist. The young man's moans were muffled against Kensei's lips as the older man slid his tongue into his mouth. Shuuhei placed his hands on the man's shoulders, stroking the hairline on his neck and smashing their lips together. The former captain moved his hands down from Shuuhei's waist to grab his ass, making him squeal a bit against his mouth.

"Do you know how much I just wanna fuck you" the older man groaned as he reluctantly broke their kiss. Shuuhei huffed and shook his head a little.

"I think you proofed it to everyone yesterday" he replied, shifting in his place as the man's hands groped his buttocks and reached dangerously close to his groin. Kensei chuckled and leaned down to suck on Shuuhei's neck, biting the skin gently but enough to leave a small mark. The young man bit his lip to stifle his moans of pleasure that the man's touch caused and buried his hand into his short silvery hair. The piercing on the man's brow scraped against his skin. He felt Kensei's hand slid up his back and reach to his neck, starting to pull him gently down on the bed. His other hand was pulling down Shuuhei's boxers while his head descended lower and lower on the young man's abdomen.

"Kensei" he sighed and he struggled to stay upright, his hands scrambling for something to hold onto but he only managed to press the man's head even lower down towards his now almost exposed groin.

"Don't always fight me kid, just enjoy yourself for once" the man muttered as he circled Shuuhei's navel with his tongue, pulling his boxers down to his ankles, "for Kami's sake." With that he dropped his head to Shuuhei's groin and took the young man's erection into his mouth, sliding his lips up the shaft while his tongue enveloped the tip.

"Oh fuck" the vice- captain spat out as he finally gave up, his hands pressing to his face as he tried to keep himself from fidgeting under Kensei's touch. The man's body pressed his legs down and his hand rested on Shuuhei's abdomen, gently but effectively keeping him in place. Despite his protesting the young man couldn't deny the pleasant feeling that coursed through his body as Kensei bobbed his head up and down and slid his tongue along his shaft. His breath wheezed as he peeked a look between his fingers at the man between his legs, he could feel how his face was burning red with embarrassment. One side of him was ordering him to kick to man off and escape the situation but his other side was howling out of pleasure, Kazeshini's twisted cackle echoing in the back of his mind. The spirit seemed to get some pleasure out of this too, the noises it made sounded almost like purring.

He had lost himself to the ecstasy, he couldn't think about anything else but the warm buzzing feeling that was forming slowly in the base of his spine. He was only faintly aware that the moaning he heard was his own voice, that it was actually Kensei who was doing this to him. His panted heavily for breath now, his hands buried into his black hair and eyes staring at the ceiling, seeing nothing but blur. His legs fidgeted on their own accord, his toes curling against the floor boards and muscles tensing up.

Kensei's slick tongue was now lapping his cock, almost painfully slowly and deliberately. Shuuhei's hands were balling into tights fists in his hair as he felt verging upon his orgasm. He didn't know whether he should signal this to Kensei somehow or stop him but when he tried to move the man's strong hands kept him in place. Out of obvious options, the young man threw his head back on the mattress, clenching his jaws together and let out a low growling sound as he came. His chest heaved up and down as he rode on the afterwaves of his orgasm, Kensei's mouth still enveloping his cock and licking all the semen off it. The man finally straightened up and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, the gesture somehow so banal Shuuhei felt extremely embarrassed and buried his face into his hands again. He heard Kensei crawl back onto the bed, positioning himself next to him. The former captain grabbed hold of his arm and pulled it away from his face, looking down at him with concern.

"Are you okay kid? I'd thought you'd enjoy that" he asked, caressing the young man's knuckles with his thumb.

"I did" Shuuhei replied, his face feeling so hot it almost burned.

"You don't look like it" Kensei said and rose up to sit on the bed, crossing his legs and leaning his chin on his hands. Shuuhei propped himself up on his hands, now also feeling bad for the man who just wanted to pleasure him.

"I did, really, I just…" his voice trailed off and he looked away from Kensei, he couldn't face the man's gaze right now. He heard him sigh and rise to his feet, starting to gather up his clothes from the floor. Shuuhei didn't look as the man got dressed, his every move calm and slow, not hasty and loud like he had thought they would be.

"I'm so sorry, Muguruma- san" Shuuhei sniffed as he bundled the sheets in his hands, his head hanging low. He heard the former captain scoff and pat to the bed, then felt his warm hand ruffle his hair.

"I'm not mad, kid. But I will be if you don't stop with those formal names, it really irks me." Kensei planted a kiss on Shuuhei's forehead and walked to the door. Before leaving he turned to look at the young vice- captain, who looked like the epitome of misery. He flashed him a small smile.

"You can come to me anytime you want to, kid. Just don't bottle everything up, okay? It doesn't suit you." When the young man didn't say anything, Kensei asked again, more forcefully.

"Promise me that, Shuuhei." Hearing the man say his name finally got Shuuhei's attention and he looked at him, the man's calm and caring eyes bringing some comfort to his misery.

"I promise" he answered. The older man cocked an eyebrow to him and Shuuhei understood what was missing.

"Kensei." The man's smile widened into a grin and he winked at the vice- captain.

"'Atta boy. I'll see you at the HQ later, alright?"

"Alright."

"Great You take care until then", Kensei opened the door but just before stepping out, he turned around to look at the young vice- captain once more, "Shuuhei."


	6. Chapter 6

**Byakuya still has his hairpiece, peace is restored. Some lah-di-dah to be had in this chapter, o-ou. But we're nearing the end, only few more chapters to go (which could mean basically anything from two to six. But most likely no more than that. I hope. I'm just the writer, okay?)**

**Chapter 6.**

"Oh Kensei, back already?" Shinji was slouching on the couch as the former captain banged the door shut behind him.

"Did it work?" Kensei stopped on his way towards the stairs to his own room and turned to look at the blonde lying on the couch.

"Did what work?" Shinji pulled himself up and leaned his elbows on the back of the couch.

"Your pretty straightforward plan of getting into Shuuhei's pants by breaking into his room and watching him sleep." The silver haired man's brows knitted together as he glared at the other Visored.

"You have teeth like a horse" he spat and stormed up the stairs into his room. Shinji scoffed and drooped back on the couch.

"Guess not then" he muttered to himself. Then he sucked on his teeth and scrunched them together. Noticing what he was doing he huffed loudly and rolled on his stomach.

"I'm not a friggin' horse…" That moment the door to the underground bunker opened and Hachi waddled out. Shinji turned to look at him, the man's face stoic as ever.

"Hey Hachi."

"Yes?"

"Do I look like a horse to you?" The huge man stared at Shinji for few moments, then just turned away and made his way to his own living quarters.

"Hey, what kind of an answer is that?

Kensei was pacing around in his room. His fingers tapped on the hilt of his Zanpakutou, itching for practice to release some steam. He usually kept Tachikaze in its released state but after what happened he had kept it sealed, just to calm the others down. There was a knock on his door. The former captain sighed and shoved his sword back to it sheathe and walked to the door to open it. Mashiro was standing in the corridor, swinging back and forth on her heels. Kensei huffed out air and leaned against the door frame, not letting the woman in to his room. His former vice- captain looked at him with anticipation in her huge eyes but when the man didn't say a word, she finally gave up.

"Sooooooo", she drawled, "where were you last night?"

"None of your business."

"Awwww, don't be like that Kensei" the woman whined and crossed her arms on her chest, "I wanna know."

"Well you can't. So leave me alone." The man tried to pull the door shut but Mashiro put her foot in to stop it.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy, Kensei."

"Wanna bet?"

The man's arm shot out and punched the woman in the chest, knocking her on her ass to the floor. The door slammed shut in front of her and Kensei could hear her little fists banging against the steel.

"You can't hide in there forever Kensei!"

"Just watch me!" He heard the woman scoff one more time before her footsteps clanked against the steel floors and then the sound of another steel door slamming shut. Then it opened.

"And that didn't even hurt by the way!" And shut again. Kensei thought about shouting something back but stopped himself, he was getting too old for this childish bullshit. Plus, his Hollow side was irking him to show that woman the meaning of real pain, like the one he had felt when she had had her hands all over Shuuhei…_Dangerous thoughts, _he noted to himself as he lounged back to his bed. He wondered who he could ask to spar with him, probably no one would because of his lack of self- control the other day. _Shit, I've fucked things right up._

There was another knock on his door. Judging by the reiatsu trail it was Shinji this time. Kensei was mildly surprised that the blonde captain would come talk to him so soon after he had probed at his biggest insecurity.

"What" he grunted, not bothering to get up. The door was slowly opened and the blonde Visored poked his head inside, his Cheshire grin looking wider than normally.

"I thought you could use some company" he said while slipping into the door and pressing the door quietly shut. He then leaned his back against the door and rested his hands on his belt.

"I take it that Mashiro was already here."

"Outstanding deduction, Sherlock."

"Now now, there's no need to be rude, I'm only here to help" Shinji said and glanced around the room, "someone's gotta do it, eh?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing at all…" Kensei glared at the blonde Visored whose grin didn't seem to budge no matter what. Finally he gave up.

"So what do you want me to say?"

"You don't have to say anything, I just wanna be sure you don't go berserk again and kill us all. Or make us kill you." Kensei jeered at the notion.

"Like you could do that."

"None of us would like it but we might have to. We can't afford the off chance that you'd escape and start mayhem in the town. The Soul Society would hunt us all down if that happened." The former captains stared at each other grimly, the air feeling heavy around them. Shinji was the first to snap out of it and he swung his Zanpakutou on his shoulder.

"But enough about that. Wanna spar?" Kensei frowned.

"I thought none of you would even wanna come near me after what happened."

"Well the others won't, but I know that it's the only way I can persuade to into talking about this whole mess. Let's make a deal, I win, you tell me what's wrong."

"What if I win?"

"Well, let's talk about that when you've lost, deal?"

"Deal."

* * *

><p>Shinji jumped ten meters back and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, trying to stop blood flowing into his eye. The wound was only a small scratch but it bled like hell. Further away Kensei was looking down at his thigh and the gash that Shinji had managed to make. Blood was starting to stain his trousers but it wasn't deep enough to impede his movements.<p>

"That the best you can do?" the man hollered at him, smirking one-sidedly and tapping his feet with the blade of his Zanpakutou. Shinji scoffed and shifted his position, the deeper cut on his shin was making his leg wobble under him.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, big guy." Using his shunpo, Shinji appeared in front of Kensei, slashing upwards with his sword, targeting the man's abdomen. The man blocked the attack with ease, pushing Shinji's sword down and smacking him in the forehead, which sent him flying backwards. The blonde Visored spun around in the air and pressed his feet in the ground, dragging his hand on the sand until he stopped. Kensei's brutal tactics were starting to get to him, he pressed his hand on the wound on his leg to check if it was still bleeding. He didn't want Kensei to see how much the wound actually impaired his fighting.

"Still wanna continue?" the man asked, walking towards him with his Zanpakutou lazily resting on his shoulder, "you could just give up, I wouldn't blame you."

"In your dreams, you brute" Shinji snarled and locked his knees so his legs wouldn't shake so much.

"Wanna start taking this seriously?" he asked Kensei, who had stopped about ten meters away from him. The man cocked his head to the side.

"You mean…"

"Yeah" Shinji straightened his sword arm in front of him, the blade of his Zanpakutou pointing towards the ground. A slow smile spread to Kensei's face.

"Let's do it." The men stared at each other, their reiatsu's slowly starting to gather around them, making the earth shake.

"Collapse, Sakanade" Shinji uttered, his Zanpakutou changing form and starting to spin around his hand.

"Blow it away, Tachikaze." Kensei could smell the sweet aroma in the air and feel how Shinji's Shikai was starting to affect his senses. He shut his eyes, breathing in slowly to relax his senses. It was the easiest way to deal with the inverted world that Shinji's Zanpakutou created. He could hear the man approaching him and turned his own Zanpakutou in his hand. When the blonde Visored was getting closer, he slashed down with Tachikaze, sending its air blades cutting through the air. Their range was so wide that just sending them generally in the right direction was enough. He heard the blonde groan in frustration when he had to jump to dodge the swirling air blades.

"You always do that!" the man yelled from a safe distance.

"I could say the same thing to you!" Kensei replied, spinning his Zanpakutou on his finger. He heightened his senses to feel out the blonde's reiatsu as he moved around him, keeping his back to the man.

"Are you ready to talk?"

"About what?" He chuckled to himself as he heard Shinji groaning behind him and then quickly blocked his attack which seemed to come from the right, but actually the man was on his left- hand side. The blonde slashed at him, aiming for his sword arm but Kensei whipped around and delivered a swift kick to Shinji's stomach, sending him back again.

"Holy shit Kensei, you're brutal today" the man wheezed as he pressed his arm to his stomach.

"You can always give up" the silver haired man grinned.

"Sure" was the surly answer and the next moment Kensei had to drop to the ground and roll away from the path of Shinji's sword. He slashed down with his Tachikaze again, then crouched near the ground and tried to create some safe distance to his opponent.

"Hado n. 33: Sokatsui!"

"Fuck." Kensei managed to dodge the destructive Kido spell by an inch, or so he thought.

"Bakudo n. 62: Hyapporankan!" An energy rod struck Kensei on his thigh, nailing him to the ground. Another slammed to his shoulder, pinning him down.

"Shit" he muttered under his breath and hearing Shinji's steps getting closer, he quickly drew on his Hollow mask with his free hand. The sudden spike in his reiatsu enabled him to break free from the binding Kido and back to his feet, but the blonde Visored was quicker. Kensei froze to his place as he felt the blade of Sakanade on his throat. Shinji waved his hand to disintegrate his own Hollow mask and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"I thought we said no Hollow masks" he remarked to the other Visored who was glaring at him under his brow.

"'Cause I knew you would cheat, like you always do."

"Me? Oh Kensei, you say the silliest things" Shinji chirped but didn't move his sword. Kensei glanced down at the blade and then back up at Shinji.

"You gonna put that away or what?"

"If you keep your end of the deal." The man groaned but nodded, though involuntarily.

"Fine, have it your way then."

"Splendid!" The blonde swiftly spun his sword back to his belt, sealing it to its unreleased state. Kensei slowly got up to his feet, brushing off dust from his knees. He noticed Shinji's slouching posture and his eyes went to the man's leg.

"I managed to hit you good, didn't I?"

"Just a flesh wound" Shinji downplayed his injury and started walking towards the small clearing near them.

"Right" the other man muttered as he followed the former captain, his eyes trained on his slightly limping leg.

Shinji sat down on the ground, crossing his legs with a slightly pained expression flashing on his face. Kensei lopped down, leaning his back on a rock. The men sat in silence for few minutes, looking around the deserted training ground.

"So" Shinji beckoned, "how's Shuuhei?" Kensei scoffed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"That kid's got some serious issues" he said and leaned his chin to his palm.

"Oh really? What kind?" The other man glared at him.

"Are you gonna take this seriously or not?"

"Sorry, sorry…Do continue." Kensei scratched the back of his head, trying to find the right words. Shinji sighed and crossed his hands behind his head.

"Am I boring you?" The blonde shook his head and uttered a small laugh.

"No, no, I have all the time in the world."

"Alright, so don't piss around anymore, okay?"

"Understood."

"Good."

After another few minutes of silence Shinji shifted in his place.

"You know that when I said that I have all the time in the world I was speaking metaphorically?"

"Okay, okay, just let me think for Kami's sake!" Kensei grunted and pressed his index finger to his forehead. Shinji rolled his eyes and leaned his chin to his knuckles.

"The things I do for my friends…"

"Alright, so he's a tad bit traumatized by the War." The blonde man seemingly cheered up and focused his eyes back to Kensei.

"Now we're getting somewhere. Though that was a bit obvious really."

"Shut up. Anyway, I dunno if he had some sort of closer relationship with Tousen or is he just scared to lose someone close to him again but he got really upset when I…errr…"

"When you what?" The former captain cringed and his hands balled into fists.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"I have no idea what you mean, Kensei. If you want my help, you need to be straight with me." Kensei groaned and screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to see Shinji's smirking face.

"When I gave him a blowjob, alright?" he spat out, rubbing his hands into his trousers, "first he seemed really up for it but then he just…shut down, I dunno." Shinji chortled and wiggled his eyebrows to Kensei.

"Get it, straight, 'cause obviously you two are not…"

"For fuck's sake, shut up already Shinji! Goddamnit, for once I'm actually trying and you're just fucking around with me."

"I'm not the one who's fucking with yo…Okay, okay, I'm listening, sorry." The former captain stood up and started pacing around, kicking the dirt around.

"Geez Kensei, I haven't seen you this riled up since…" Shinji glanced upwards and hummed as he reminisced for a while, "never actually. What's so special about this kid anyway?" The man turned around and pulled his hair.

"That's the thing, I don't know myself! Fuck" he muttered as he kept pacing, small cloud of dust forming at his feet.

"This isn't just your Hollow, is it?"

"No, it's more than that." Kensei stopped his walking and stared blankly at somewhere in the distance. He turned to look at Shinji, who was looking as sincere as he could with the face he had.

"I can't explain. I just…know. Ah, why am I even trying to explain this to anyone, I just sound crazy." Shinji pulled himself up and brushed dust off his pants.

"No, you don't. You just sound like you're" the man stopped for a dramatic effect and glanced at Kensei under his brow, "_in love."_ The former captain stared at Shinji in silence, batting his eyes slowly.

"Are you high?" The blonde man's face fell down and he crossed his arms on his chest.

"Well sorry for pointing out the obvious."

"You're ridiculous" Kensei scoffed and headed for the stairs.

"Don't make me say 'I told you so'!" The silver haired man swatted his hand to Shinji as he walked away, leaving the former captain alone in the training grounds. The man counted under his breath after he heard the door clang shut and then let himself fall down to the ground, grasping onto his still bleeding foot.

"Son of a bitch…"

* * *

><p>As Kensei climbed upstairs, he could hear the other Visoreds talking. And another familiar voice among them. He stretched his neck to catch a glimpse of the flash of neon green hair a bit too close to comfort to a certain young vice- captain. Rose turned around as he sensed Kensei's reiatsu enter the room and reached his hand to grab Mashiro by the neck and pull her away from the young man. Kensei nodded to the man and slowly lounged towards the others. He was surprised to notice that Lisa was actually deep in conversation with Shuuhei, Love beside them chuckling lowly. Hiyori was scowling as always but even she was in close proximity to the others instead of sulking in some deep corner. Hachi was smiling politely and even his huge shoulders occasionally jumped up and down from silent laughter. But the most impressing thing Kensei saw was the wide smile that graced Shuuhei's features. The vice- captain seemed actually relaxed and comfortable, a total opposite to what he had witnessed last night, and this morning. The former captain wasn't sure if it was all just an act, the young man had kept up his appearances for quite some time now, or was it genuine. The one thing he was sure about was the warm feeling that he felt as he watched Shuuhei's smiling and laughing with his comrades. <em>It's almost as if could be one of us…<em>

Kensei had to shake his head slightly to come to his senses. He shouldn't be thinking such things, he would only get his hopes up for nothing. As he walked closer to the others, Shuuhei raised his eyes from Lisa to him and flashed him a wide smile, waving his hand slightly in the air. The Visoreds too turned to look at their friend and he could feel their tension as he came closer. He felt embarrassed for making them so scared, they had gone through enough without him adding up to it all. The War had taken its toll on everyone and things had just started to return back to normal. Kensei looked at the young vice- captain standing in the middle of the Visoreds. _Everything was okay before you came. But I want to be sure it was worth it. _

"Morning Kensei" Rose greeted the man, looking at him over the edge of his sunglasses, "I see you're early to train this morning."

"Yeah, I sparred with Shinji for a bit" he replied, glancing over his shoulder at the hatch to the underground bunker.

"He's still there?" Lisa asked, following Kensei's gaze.

"Yeah he said he'll…train some Kido stuff." The blatant lie seemed to do its job on the Visoreds. Shuuhei, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow to the former captain but didn't say anything.

"So Hisagi-san, how's your report doing?" Rose asked and loosened his grip on Mashiro's neck, trusting that Kensei's closer proximity would keep the woman in her senses.

"I'll probably have it finished by tomorrow, Otoribashi- san" the young man replied courteously.

"So you'll head back to Soul Society then?" Lisa asked.

"Yes" Shuuhei said, but hesitantly, glancing at Kensei, "I need to report back as soon as possible."

"That's a shame" Rose sighed, pushing back his mass of blond curly hair, "you've been a nice change to our little group." The vice- captain uttered a small laugh and bowed his head, thanking for the compliment.

"It's been great to finally meet you all in person" he said, looking around him at the now familiar faces of the Visoreds, "and I'll be sure to send my greetings to Kyouraku- san from you, Lisa- san. And to Ise- san." The woman nodded, a small smile flashing on her face.

"So what are your plans for today?" Kensei asked and noticed how Love nudged Rose, both men chuckling quietly and their eyes shuffling between him and Shuuhei.

"I was planning on just observing some more, and Lisa- san said she could give me a tour around your usual patrolling sites."

"But Kensei can do that too, if he wants. I have some new comics that need reading" the woman quickly said, exchanging knowing glances between the other Visoreds.

"Oh, I mean, yeah sure" the man said, shifting in his place as he tried to ignore the smirking faces around him, "we can get going when you're ready."

"I'm actually ready to go right now, if that's okay" Shuuhei replied, smiling kindly at Kensei.

"Right" the former captain nodded, glaring at his comrades of whom some were now struggling to keep their mouths shut, "let's get outta here." Using shunpo, the man disappeared, the young vice-captain quickly following suit.

The two men made their way around the town, mostly following the river coursing through the town. Most of the scenery was familiar to Shuuhei from the War, when they had fought in a replica of the city. Passing the suspension bridge the vice-captain remembered how he had fought against the Fraccion Findor Carias, a battle that had quickly been solved after he had released Kazeshini. He sometimes thought could he have saved Rangiku and Momo if he hadn't held back from the start and had been able to battle against Harribel's Fraccions with them, maybe they could've prevented the women from releasing the monster that had forced the Head Captain Yamamoto to step in. He knew he couldn't change the past no matter what he did or how much he beat himself over it, but still. He had to live with the choices he had made. He glanced at Kensei who was going ahead of him and wondered if the man was still haunted by his own past. The former captain seemed to be at ease with the fact that they couldn't go back to Soul Society and had conformed to living in the Real World. Then again, his presence here was a constant reminder of their past, bringing up uncomfortable memories.

"Let's take a break for a moment here" Kensei said and they landed on top of a tall building. It had a perfect view over the town centre, you could even see the mountain range that surrounded the town from one side. Shuuhei walked to the very edge of the roof and glanced down, it was a long fall to the ground.

"Nice view, eh?" Kensei asked as he walked beside the young vice- captain, stretching his arms above his head, popping his neck and shoulders.

"Yeah" Shuuhei replied, scratching the back of his head nervously, "Kensei, I wanted to talk to you about this morning, I…" The former captain swatted the air with his hand.

"As I said, don't sweat it kid. I don't mind" he said, placing his hand on Shuuhei's shoulder and squeezing it slightly, "I'm actually quite used to being rejected." The young man turned to look at him with panic in his eyes.

"No no no, it's nothing like that! I do want you, I honestly do" Shuuhei blabbered, almost stumbling in his words, "I'm just not good with people, I always say the wrong things and just mess everything up, I've never really been with anyone except when I've been drunk and that's a whole other scenario." He stopped for a breather for few seconds and was going to continue when Kensei stopped him by kissing him gently on the lips. When he drew back he had a huge smirk on his face.

"You could've stopped at 'I want you' you know" he chuckled, stroking Shuuhei's cheek with the back of his hand, "see unlike you, I'm the kind of a man who doesn't need convincing. Well, not much at least."

"You're just acting so weirdly, I don't know what I should think" the young man sighed as he grabbed hold of the former captain's hand, "one moment you're kissing me out of nowhere, then you're on a rampage out of pure jealousy, next thing you're sneaking into my room at night and then…I'd just want you to be consistent for a while so I wouldn't make a fool out of myself, more than I already have." His head dropped as he sighed again, deeper and breathed out slowly, trying to gather his thoughts. When he raised his eyes to look at Kensei again he looked so serious it almost hurt.

"I'm risking so much with you right now, and I know you're doing the same. It's not just about us, it's about Shinji and all the others, about Urahara-san, everyone involved with this mess. This could end up really badly for everyone, we're being incredibly selfish right now."

"I know that" Kensei sighed and let his hand drop down, still holding onto Shuuhei, "I just…I need to be with you, I can't explain any better. I just…I just know it, somewhere deep in my bones. And I…I'm afraid what will happen when you leave." The vice-captain frowned and tightened his grip on the man's hand.

"But…you know that I have to leave. You knew it from the beginning."

"I know I knew that, don't talk to me like I'm stupid!" Kensei huffed, glaring down at the traffic below them, "Do you really think that mattered to me? Do you think there has been a single rational thought in my head since the day you came here? You're right, I'm acting like a crazy person 'cause that's what you've made me! Do you think I like being in this situation, acting all creepy and weird, beating up my friends, screwing up everyone's life for my own happiness? Fuck no, but you know what? If I now had the choice to make it all go away, to fix everything, including never meeting you…I wouldn't do it. I just…couldn't. For some ridiculous reason, you make it all worthwhile. These few hours I've been with you have been the best I've had in decades. I might as well be crazy, that would be the only rational explanation for all this! And I would actually be happy if that was the case, then this all wouldn't be my fault. But no…I haven't been this sure about anything, ever. And I honestly couldn't give a fuck what it means on a larger scale, I'd be happy to battle off the Soul Society and anyone else if that's what it takes. If I can just be with you, Shuuhei, I don't care what I have to do."

Shuuhei stared into Kensei's eyes, he felt stripped bare to his very core under the man's piercing stare. The man's words burned into his mind, their message slowly sinking into his brain. His mind was filled with those words, he replayed them over and over until he was sure he had heard them right. He was squeezing Kensei's hand so hard his knuckles had gone white but he didn't notice. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, he didn't know what he should say. What can you answer when someone pours their heart out to you?

"Kensei…" he finally managed to utter, still staring wide-eyed at the man. At that moment he felt like he was a child again, being saved from certain death by this very man who now stood in front of him, holding his hand and confessing his feelings for him. His legs were shaking slightly under him as the realization slowly made its way from his brain to his body, turning his limbs into jelly. He had felt same awe back then, all those years ago. Fear, respect and some other foreign emotion mixed into one big lump that was stuck in his throat and made all rational thinking impossible. It was as if the whole world had stopped just for them, for a few precious seconds when nothing else mattered.

"You know, now I'm feeling really stupid after saying all that stuff and getting just a blank stare from you, kid" Kensei muttered. His gloom was fixed quickly when Shuuhei wrapped his arm around the man's neck and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry for all of this" Shuuhei murmured against Kensei's neck, his hand cupping the back of the man's head. The former captain slowly answered to the embrace, wrapping his own arms around the young man.

"I've missed you" the vice- captain continued, grabbing a handful of Kensei's hair into his hand. The man frowned and stroked Shuuhei's spiky hair.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You remember when I told you that you were the reason I joined the Academy?"

"Yeah, I remember." _I remember every single word you've said to me, kid._

"You meant more than just that to me. I tried to find you when I graduated, I wanted to see you again…That was the reason I became a Shinigami, not so I could become like you, it was because I wanted to be _with_ you. That's all I've ever wanted."

Shuuhei scowled as he felt Kensei's chest starting to heave slightly and then heard the man chuckle. He pulled back and stared at him.

"What's so funny?" The former captain planted a kiss on his forehead and smiled.

"Somehow you just managed to trump everything I said with just few little words. For Kami's sake kid, you're way too smart for your own good."

"I don't think intelligence has anything to do with it…Plus I just think it makes me sound way more creepier than you."

"Well that too" Kensei acknowledged and burst into quiet laughter, his whole body shaking slightly, "a little kid lusting after a grown man is pretty damn weird, maybe even weirder than me just falling for you the second I saw you."

"You know you sound really lame when you say it like that."

"Shut up kid and kiss me."

* * *

><p>Back in Soul Society captains Kyoraku and Ukitake were having a quiet meeting in the white haired captain's personal abode. The men were drinking tea with loads of reports spread across the small table between them. Kyoraku sighed pleasantly after emptying his cup of tea and took of his straw hat, placing it on the floor next to him. He looked at the other captain from under his brow and drew circles on the table's surface with his index finger.<p>

"So, what do you think?" The pale captain exhaled deeply and lowered his hands into his lap.

"The situation is getting very complicated. According to Urahara-san, Hisagi-san and Muguruma- san are getting quite close. I don't think we can no longer trust that his report on the Visoreds will be truly objective."

"Well, wasn't that the point in the first place?" Ukitake nodded and leaned his chin on his palm.

"Why yes, but I don't think we anticipated that it would go this far. I'm worried for Hisagi-san's safety. "

"Ah, he'll be fine" Kyoraku said while waving his hand idly in the air, "Urahara will look after him if need be. Plus, I don't think Muguruma-san would ever hurt him."

"I hope you're right" Ukitake sighed and looked at his oldest friend, "I hope we can really pull this off, Kyoraku."

"Yama-jii doesn't want to go after the Visoreds anymore than we do. We got all the captains and lieutenants backing us up, it'll be fine."

"I hope so, Kyoraku. I truly hope so."


	7. Chapter 7

**And another one.**

**Chapter 7.**

When Shuuhei and Kensei returned to the Visoreds' headquarters, the sun was already setting. The former captain slid the huge door open and they entered the building quietly. There was no one at the hall, or so it seemed.

"Oh, you're finally here!" a familiar voice sounded from the shadows. Both men stopped in their place and looked around the hall for the source of the sound. They soon heard the clickety- clack of wooden sandals against the asphalt floor and Urahara stepped out from the darkness, dressed in his usual green attire and hiding his face under the brim of his hat. He waved his fan in the air as a greeting and smiled widely.

"Hello Muguruma-san, it's been long since I saw you face to face." The former captain snorted and crossed his arms on his chest.

"What do you want, Kisuke?" The blonde man was now only few feet away from them, his smile slightly fading.

"I have a message for Hisagi-san here" he said, turning his eyes to the young man. Shuuhei could sense Kensei's reaitsu rising slightly and quickly placed his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Is it from the Soul Society?" he asked the shop owner, who nodded, flipping his fan open and covering the lower half of his face with it.

"I wanna hear what they have to say" Kensei murmured quietly, looking at the vice- captain over his shoulder. Urahara shook his head, eyeing the men from the narrow gap between his hat and fan.

"I'm sorry Muguruma-san but it's a personal message from captain Kyoraku, addressed solely to vice- captain Hisagi. So, if you would…" the man nodded towards the stairs with his head. The man grunted in objection but gave in, he knew there was no point trying to fight with Urahara. When he had gone and they heard the door of his room slam shut, Urahara turned back to Shuuhei and reached into the pleats of his shirt and drew out a folded paper. He handed it to the vice-captain holding it between his index and middle finger. The young man took it bit hesitantly and opened it carefully. His eyes skimmed through the message as Urahara observed the tiny facial movements on his face. Shuuhei looked up at the blonde shop owner, his brows knitted together.

"I have to leave right away?" The scientist nodded, his hands pushed into the loose sleeves of his shirt.

"The Central 46 is getting anxious sooner than we thought. They want results now, or they will send their own agents into the Real World."

"But I'm a member of the Gotei 13, am I not their agent?" the vice-captain asked, looking more and more puzzled.

"Apparently after the War and Aizen's betrayal the Central 46 doesn't trust the Gotei 13 to perform their duty anymore."

"What, even with us defeating him in the War?"

"Well, for some reason the Central 46 holds the Gotei 13 responsible for the fact that Aizen managed to gather enough information and allies to enable his attack against Soul Society" Urahara said and uttered a bitter laugh.

"But, they were the ones who wouldn't believe you when you told them about Aizen's plans over a century ago!" Shuuhei protested, his anger growing as Urahara tried to find reason behind the preposterous accusations.

"That's the funny part of it. It seems that somehow the Gotei 13 should've found out about Aizen's plans before he executed them, and of course since he used my Hogyoku to create the Espada and so forth, I'm not the most reliable person to them. Plus to them the Visoreds are still just rogues who gained Hollow powers through illegal means." Shuuhei crumbled the message into his fist and pressed his hand to his forehead.

"This makes no sense at all" he groaned, his teeth clenched together in frustration, "why would they do this?"

"The Central 46 is pressuring the Gotei 13 to deal with the Visoreds. Due the lack of captains and the casualties suffered in the War they are now more vulnerable than ever. They probably think that now would also be the perfect time to strike down on the Visoreds, since they too are just recovering from the War and haven't yet fled from Karakura. To them it's basically a sign that they're planning on attacking the Soul Society" the former captain said with a shrug.

"Why would they do that? They have no reason whatsoever to attack us, they could've done it years ago before the Soul Society didn't even know how powerful they were."

"Maybe they think that now when Aizen's out of their way, the next thing is to get their revenge on the Central 46." Shuuhei huffed and started to pace around the hall, walking in a small circle before the shop owner. The man stopped him by placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're upset for your new friends, but the best thing to do right now is to obey the orders from Seireitei. I know captain Kyoraku will back up your report, as will all the other captains. After things have calmed down, you can come back to visit them." Shuuhei sighed again, looking like a kicked puppy.

"I know that. It's just…When I came here, I didn't expect any of this to happen. Now everything is so messed up, I fear that things will just go from bad to worse. If the Central 46 is as paranoid as you say, they might go after the Visoreds anyway."

"Genryuusai- dono wouldn't let them walk over the Gotei 13. He's still quite the force of nature, despite having lost his arm."

"I hope so" the young man said with the air of resignation. Urahara patted him on the back.

"Don't worry Hisagi-san, if things do go from bad to worse, I still have few tricks up my sleeve. And so do the captains." Shuuhei looked at the former captain who had his trademark smirk on his face. Somehow, it made him feel a bit better.

"I'll prepare the Senkaimon for you if you want me to."

"No it's fine, I'll just…say my goodbyes and then leave. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I think that Kyoraku-san is being bit overly cautious but the sooner the better" Urahara said and gave Shuuhei a small bow, "it was a pleasure to have you with us, Hisagi-san." The vice- captain quickly returned the gesture, dropping his head low and bringing his hand to his chest.

"Thank you Urahara-san, for…everything. And send my greetings to Tsukabishi-san, and the children." Having said that, Shuuhei ran for the stairs, leaving Urahara stand alone in the hall. The blonde man watched him run up the staircase that lead up to the private rooms of the Visoreds. Hearing the metal clang of the door, he turned away and walked out, his sandals clopping against the floor.

As Shuuhei had been talking with Urahara, Kensei had actually decided to give them the privacy they wanted. Eavesdropping on Kisuke was as useless as trying to tell Hiyori to control her temper. Kensei had already been at the door of his room when he had suddenly decided to walk a bit further and knock on a door that was at the end of the staircase.

"It's open" had been the answer, and Kensei had slipped inside the room, shutting the steel door with a bang. The sight of Shinji slouching on his bed with earphones on had greeted him once entering the room, the blonde man cocked his eyebrow to him as he leaned his back on the door.

"Fancy seeing you here" he said, propping himself up on his elbows. Kensei muttered an inaudible response and crossed his arms on his chest, his eyes mapping the room. It was far more decorative than his, the walls were almost covered with posters of movies and bands. Some guitar rock was blasting from the blonde's earphones that he had taken off as the other man had entered the room. Besides the king-size bed he also had a TV and a couch, and some fluffy rug covering the floor. All this made the room pretty crowded but comfy. Kensei made his way to the couch and lopped down to it, one leg on the arm rest and the other falling over the edge to the floor, hands laying on the other arm rest and across his stomach. Shinji shuffled himself into a cross-legged position on the bed and leaned his chin into his palms.

"So, you wanna tell me something?" the blonde asked when the other man wasn't saying anything.

"Kisuke's here" was the reply. Shinji raised his eyebrows to the obvious statement and tilted his head to the side.

"So what?"

"It's always bad news when he's here. And he had a message from the Soul Society, addressed solely to Shuuhei." The remark made the blonde Visored flash a wide grin to Kensei.

"So he's now Shuuhei, eh?" The silver haired man glared at Shinji from the couch.

"Whaddya mean by that? It's his name for fuck's sake."

"Yeah, but you always talk about him as the kid. Never Shuuhei. At least not to me." Kensei scoffed at the notion and shifted himself on the couch.

"That's not important right now. I just know that shit is gonna hit the fan, soon."

"Lovely way of putting it" Shinji muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling.

"Shut up idiot and tell me what to do with this mess." The blonde burst into laughter and rolled back on the bed, earning another harsh glare from Kensei.

"What's so funny?"

"Whaddya you think I could do about it? It's your mess, I've just offered to listen to you, not solve anything for you. Plus even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

"Some friend you are" the former captain groaned and smacked the back of his head to the arm rest.

"I can't fix your love life for you Kensei dear, only you can do it. Preferably in a way that doesn't involve any of us dying."

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?" Shinji's face split into its usual grin, baring two rows of perfectly white straight teeth.

"Don't think so. But now you tell me" he said, leaning forwards on his hands, "did you manage to confess your most inner feelings to our lil' Shuuhei?" Kensei turned on his side on the couch, exhaling deeply.

"Kinda yeah, I guess. But what good will that do to me when he has to leave?" The last part of his sentence was drowned under the long "awwww" sound made by Shinji but was quickly silenced by a cushion that hit him in the face. The blonde rubbed his hurt nose with his palm while glaring at the man who had assaulted him so cruelly.

"Just tryin' to be supportive and this is what I get" he grunted and threw the cushion back at Kensei, who grabbed it easily from the air and shoved it behind his head.

"I don't want or need your support, I need you to help me sort this out. He's going back to Soul Society with his report on us and then what? What happens then?" Shinji shrugged his shoulders and crossed his hands behind his head.

"I dunno, you tell me. Was Shuuhei all up for your loving?"

"Don't talk about it like that or I'll go Bankai on your ass" Kensei glanced at the blond man's foot and cocked an eyebrow, "I see you managed to keep your leg."

"I've had worse" Shinji dismissed the remark but shifted his leg under him, away from Kensei's prying eyes, "but still, how did he respond? He didn't run away, apparently."

"No, he didn't."

"So, he took it well?"

"You could say that."

"Well thank you for that exhaustive answer, I really feel closer to you now that you've shared all that with me" Shinji said and pouted his mouth to the former captain who was busy staring at the ceiling, "okay then, so he didn't run away and judging from what you asked me, you're now a couple of some sort?"

Kensei glanced at the blond Visored who was rocking slowly back and forth on the bed.

"I don't know what we are, or if there even is a 'we' here. I just know what I feel and what Shuuhei told me, and I'm going with that for now."

"Alrighty…That almost makes some sense," Shinji said and leaned his chin on his palm again, "but what were you doing all this time? A tour around our patrolling area doesn't take whole day." A slow realization crept into Shinji's mind and his lips slowly widened into a Cheshire grin that wasn't very far from creepy

"Were you having it off somewhere with him?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively to Kensei.

"What makes you think I'd tell you something like that?" the man answered, his eyes fixed on the ceiling again. He then threw a glance at Shinji and frowned at his obscene smirk.

"And please wipe that smile off your face, you're scaring the children."

There was a knock on the door. Both men rolled their eyes and shouted:

"It's open!" The door was slowly pushed open and Shuuhei poked his head in. Kensei quickly straightened himself up from the couch, rising to his feet with an anxious look on his face. Shinji's eyes moved from his comrade to the young vice-captain, looking for revealing signs from their body language. _Yep, they're both absolutely screwed. _

"What did he say?" Kensei asked, his palms already sweating. Noticing this he shoved his hands into his pockets, shuffling his feet awkwardly under him. Shuuhei let out a small sigh and shook his head.

"I have to go back to Soul Society immediately, the Central 46 is getting anxious for my report." Shinji raised an eyebrow and hummed while Kensei's hands balled into tight fists inside his pockets. He had to take few deep breaths to calm down his Hollow side that had again started to stir inside him, it almost seemed to him that the monster fed on Shuuhei's reiatsu. Such was always its reaction when the young man was close to him, and for some twisted reason the feeling only fed his own animal urges towards the vice-captain. Shinji had noticed the slight change on the former captain and was ready to spit out a binding Kido spell on the man if need be. Luckily Kensei seemed to tame his inner Hollow relatively quickly, his reiatsu tuning down to its normal level.

"Right now? That's harsh, Kyoraku must be on the edge" the blonde man noted. Kensei glanced back at him, frowning again at his words.

"How'd you know that it was from Kyoraku?"

"I'm a knowledgeable man, my dear friend, if you hadn't noticed already" Shinji smiled at him, "also Kisuke told me."

"Figures" the other man huffed and focused his attention back to Shuuhei.

"So you're leaving?" he said, his voice sounding oddly detached and emotionless, but both Shinji and Shuuhei could tell it was only calm before the storm. The vice-captain nodded slowly and glanced at Shinji, who was still eyeing the two men. Meeting Shuuhei's stern gaze, he quickly took the hint and jumped off his bed, making his way to the door.

"I just remembered I had something extremely important to do…somewhere else." With that the blonde Visored slipped out of the room, pressing the door quietly shut behind him.

Kensei waited for few seconds to see if Shinji actually left and didn't stay behind the door before he took few steps towards Shuuhei, closing the distance between them. He took his hand to Shuuhei's neck and pulled him close, pressing their lips together into a passionate kiss. The young man answered to the kiss with equal vigor but then pressed his hand against Kensei's chest and pushed him away, looking down at his feet. The former captain's fingers were buried into his hair, massaging his scalp with almost desperate affection.

"I'm just going to say my goodbyes to everyone and then leave" the vice- captain murmured softly, his hands stroking the man's upper body, tracing the lines of muscles that were noticeable even through the canvas of his shirt. The older man didn't say anything, he just ran his hands over the young man's body and his eyes were fixed on Shuuhei, as if he was trying to etch his features into his mind.

"I'm sorry for this, I didn't want it to go like this" the young man continued but was cut short by Kensei's lips smashing against his, the man's tongue probed his mouth open and entwined with his. This time Shuuhei surrendered himself to the kiss, pushing his rational thoughts to the back of his mind and letting his lust take over. His hands slipped under the man's shirt, sliding on his scarred hard abdomen and chiseled chest. Kensei was holding Shuuhei's head in his hands, tilting it slightly to the side to deepen kiss and caressing the young man's neck gently with his fingers. He would've probably ravaged the young man on the spot if someone hadn't had the nerve to knock on the door right that second.

Both men first ignored the knock, trying to pretend they didn't hear the sound or just weren't in the room, hoping that whoever was at the door would take the hint. But they weren't so lucky and the person behind the door knocked again, this time more forcefully. Kensei wrenched himself off Shuuhei, taking few steps back and pressing his knuckles to his forehead. The young man's hands held onto the air for a second and then fell to his sides. The former captain was breathing slowly, trying to pull himself together so he could face whoever was behind the door, and probably going to die the next minute. Shuuhei walked to the door and opened it, and to his surprise saw Mashiro standing in the corridor. She was rocking back and forth on her heels, staring at him with her huge eyes.

"I heard you were leaving, Hisagi-kun" she cooed to him, the corner of her lips curling slightly upwards to a sly smile, "so I came to say goodbye." The woman rose to stand on her toes and leaned forward to Shuuhei, apparently to try and plant a kiss on his lips. Before the young vice-captain could even say a word, the door was slammed shut on Mashiro's face, knocking her off her balance.

Shuuhei stared at Kensei's hand that had thrust the door shut and then slowly moved his eyes to the man's face, almost scared to see his expression at that moment. The former captain's reaitsu had spiked the second he had opened the door and Shuuhei could have sworn he had heard the man actually growl like a beast when Mashiro had opened her mouth. He wasn't sure should he be terrified or honoured, in some weird way seeing Kensei act so protective was almost attractive. _I really do have some serious issues if I get turned on by a guy smacking women around the place, _the vice- captain noted to himself.

"Are you alright?" he asked the man, ignoring Mashiro's wailing that wasn't completely muffled by the thick steel door. Kensei nodded slowly and slid his hand off the door, lingering as if he waited for it to burst open any second. He stared at its steel surface for a moment and then raised his eyes to Shuuhei. The young man was relieved to see that the Visored's eyes weren't stained with black.

"Sorry but I just got no patience for her at the moment" the man muttered, sounding surprisingly apologetical. Shuuhei chuckled to his tone of voice, making him frown in confusion.

"What's funny about that?"

"I just think it's funny that even with living with her over a century hasn't eased your temper" the young man answered smilingly.

"Well I'm glad you find the situation funny" Kensei huffed, "'cause I feel like I could just rip somebody open."

"You probably would, wouldn't you…" Shuuhei muttered, shaking his head with disbelief, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

He looked at Kensei again, noting of the man's alert posture and his stern expression, brows knitted together and his jaws clenched, all the muscles in his upper body were tensed up as if he was ready to knock somebody down in a bat of an eye. He reached his hand to stroke the man's neck and face and enjoyed seeing him relax from the contact, his shoulders dropped and his head tilted slightly back.

"I really need to go" the vice-captain whispered, tracing Kensei's jawline with the tip of his fingers. The man took his hand into his own and ran his thumb over his knuckles.

"I know" he said and leaned closer, planting a kiss on Shuuhei's lips. Then he let go of the young man's hand and walked away from the door, turning his back on him.

"I'm not good with goodbyes so…you'd best just leave." The vice- captain hemmed and shook his head again, it was almost sweet to see the grown man acting like a small child.

"Alright, I'll just go then" he said and opened the door.

Kensei sighed deeply when he heard the metal door open and pressed his face into his hands. He exhaled deeply and let his shoulders sag down, but then felt a warm kiss on his neck and gentle fingers brush his cheek. He whipped around only to see Shuuhei walk out the door, disappearing into the corridor. Kensei moved his hand to touch the spot where the young man had kissed him for goodbye and a warm feeling coursed somewhere from the pit of his stomach up his chest and neck and crept to his face. He groaned as he lopped onto the couch, buried his face into his hands and then ran them through his hair, staring at the ceiling for answers. _The fuck will I do now…_

He didn't have much time to ponder on that further when Shinji poked his blonde head into the room. He glanced around his own living quarters and then at Kensei who was looking so miserable it almost made him feel sorry for the man. But just almost.

"You want company?" The former captain didn't answer, just kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Shinji huffed out a breath, making his fringe flail.

"If you don't, I have to throw you out since it is my room you're currently in, remember?" This spurred a somewhat positive reaction from the man, meaning he let out a small growl and nodded almost unnoticeably. The blond man slipped inside the room and pushed the door shut, then jumped on his bed and rolled onto his stomach. He lolled his head on his hands and listened to the silence. Finally he couldn't take it any longer and turned to his side, facing Kensei who was still lying immobile on the couch.

"Oh c'mon Kensei, don't be so gloom, you're dragging me down too." The man didn't answer to him, which made Shinji groan out of frustration and he smacked his head against the pillow.

"You're such a drama queen, he'll only be gone for few days." Kensei grunted and pulled himself up into a sitting position, crossing his legs.

"I know that. Why's everyone treating me like an idiot" he said and leaned his chin on his knuckles. The blond man smirked and was about to say something too smart for his own good but was stopped by Kensei's glaring eyes.

"Don't go there, I'm in no mood for jokes right now." Shinji snapped his mouth shut and mimicked pulling it close with a zip.

"You almost managed to rip Mashiro's face off you know" he said after a minute. The other man shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"She was asking for it."

"Well yeah but still, bit too dramatic you know."

"She knows perfectly well how I am, it's her fault if she wants to irk me."

"But shouldn't you be the more mature one and rise above it?"

"Why should I be the mature one? I've been laying low for decades, taking in her taunts and suffered with her whoring around, I've always been the one to drag her home when she's been too drunk to function and saved her from herself so many times I've lost count. And now this one time when I'm doing something for myself, she has to butt in."

Shinji couldn't really argue with this logic. Mashiro was infamous for her drinking sprees when she would binge so much alcohol she'd either be unconscious or so drunk she'd let anyone take her home, or to the back alley. He could remember one particular incident when they had been out on the town and suddenly Mashiro had disappeared. They had all started to look for her everywhere possible, she couldn't have gone very far in her state. Finally Kensei had found her, being dragged to some dark alley by two burly men with no good intentions. He had gone livid, beating the men to the pulp with his bare hands. Shinji had carried Mashiro out of the harm's way while the other man had been busy pounding the men to the ground. There was no point talking to him when he was like that. Mashiro herself couldn't remember anything, as usual, so they didn't even bother telling her. Kensei on the other hand had been furious for days, snapping at the woman every time she had opened her mouth. It hadn't really made their relationship any better and only spurred Mashiro to tease the man even more. He had finally given up on trying get along with her, resorting to ignoring the woman almost completely. But due his temper, he had begun spending a lot more time training alone, just to blow off the steam that her taunting caused.

"Alright, so maybe she's asking for it" he admitted. Kensei cocked an eyebrow to him which made the blond man add:

"A little too hard, perhaps." The man seemed to be content with this and leaned back on the couch, resting his arms on his abdomen.

"You have to keep me entertained while he's gone" he said. It wasn't a question or a plea, it was an order. Shinji flinched and his brows knit together.

"What makes you think I'd do that?"

"'cause otherwise I'll get bored and frustrated and take it on you." The blonde Visored wailed and threw his arms in the air.

"Why it has to be me?"

"Mashiro and Hiyori are too annoying, Hachi is too quiet, Rose is too flamboyant, Love is too laidback. Your constant yapping is enough to keep me from thinking straight but also not too annoying to make me want to kill you. Plus you always seem to think up something to do with your spare time instead of just sitting around reading comics or just pondering about the universe."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult" Shinji said, lolling his head on his hands.

"Take it as anything you like, just as long as you make sure I don't get bored." The blonde sighed and buried his face into his hands. _Please, please, please come back soon, Shuuhei… _


	8. Chapter 8

**And the curtain call draws closer! Well, supposedly, with my wandering brain I'll probably drag this on and on for couple chapters too many. Some Central 46 bashing here, judging by what they have done in the manga there are some right bastards in that council. I hate politics. **

**Plus I'm almost embarrassed when I searched for stories about this pairing and saw how incredibly unoriginal the plot is :D Geez, I hope no one will sue me for plagiarism, I haven't actually read any longer fics on this pairing so I didn't know...Goes to show that great minds think alike! But yeah, if you want to write a non-AU fic on these two and want it to appear even slightly possible (like the real thing but with sex!) there isn't that much options. That's my excuse anyway. Read&Review people!**

**Chapter 8.**

Shuuhei made his way through the Senkaimon and to Soul Society, arriving at the outskirts of Rukongai. He had left his gigai to the Visoreds' headquarters, Shinji had promised to deliver it back to Urahara. Using shunpo, he started to the journey back to Seireitei, his mind racing with all that had happened in the last few days. He was so distracted by his thoughts he almost didn't hear his name being shouted by someone nearby.

"Hisagi- san! Hey, Hisagi-san!" Shuuhei finally snapped out of his ponderings and landed on the ground, looking around him to see who had called him.

"There you are, I though you didn't hear me at first." The vice- captain turned around and saw the vice-captain of the fifth squad jogging towards him. Renji Abarai made his way to Shuuhei's side and stopped, grinning widely at him.

"You've come back I see" he said, his long red mane tied into a ponytail swung behind his head. Shuuhei nodded to the obvious statement and looked behind the man.

"You're patrolling alone?" Renji shook his head.

"Nope, I was training in the clearing near here when I sensed your reiatsu, so I came to say hi. But what you were thinking, I shouted at you for like five times before you stopped."

"I…I have a lot on my mind right now. My mission…it was more complicated than I first thought."

Renji pushed his thumb under the bandana that was wrapped around his head and frowned.

"Oh yeah, I heard the captains talk about that in the meeting…" Shuuhei's brow knit together.

"In the meeting? I didn't know it was so important."

"Well, I think it was supposed to be kinda secret meeting just between the captains but since we're so short on captains at the moment so we got in with the action too this time."

"All the lieutenants?"

"Yeah, and of course Ikkaku-san and Yumichika-san. They're veterans too so" Renji shrugged.

"You all had a secret meeting about my mission? Why?"

"Well captain Kyoraku and captain Ukitake called us and wanted to talk about the situation with the Visoreds. They don't trust that the Central 46 will actually leave the Visoreds alone so they wanted to make sure all the captains would back them up if they'd be ordered to hunt them down. It wasn't that big of a deal."

Shuuhei's raised his eyebrows to Renji.

"Not that big of a deal? A possible mutiny against the Central 46 sounds like a big deal to me" he said, folding his arms on his chest. He could already feel the pressure growing on his shoulders, even after Urahara's explanation he hadn't imagined that the situation had grown to such proportions.

"Well yeah, but it won't go to that, they wouldn't be so stupid they'd to go against Genryuusai- dono. You just hand in your report, tell them that everything's fine and dandy and we can forget this whole mess. Right?" For a second Shuuhei thought about telling Renji the truth about his mission but then decided not to. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man, but he didn't want to involve anyone else into this mess. There were already too many people in danger because of him.

"Yeah, guess you're right." Renji smacked him on the back with a wide grin on his face.

"That's the senpai I know. Let's head back to Seireitei, you can tell me all about your trip on the way."

* * *

><p>Shuuhei felt hard to breathe when he was standing in front of the huge doors that lead to the Underground Assembly Hall. He bit his lip as he pushed the door open and stepped inside, starting to walk down the staircase that lead into the underground hall. He thought it was weird he had to give his report directly to the members of the Central 46 instead of filing it in as usual. He felt like a criminal going to court to be tried, which wasn't that far from the truth considering the Central 46's attitude towards his mission. Shuuhei finally arrived at the doors of the hall, which were guarded by two men dressed in long grey robes like the guards of Senzaikyu. They pushed open the doors to the hall and Shuuhei entered into the darkness. He could see the rows of seating filled with the members of the Central 46 looming down on him as he walked to the centre of the hall, dropping down on one knee and bowed his head.<p>

"State your name and rank, Shinigami" called one of the six judges.

"Hisagi Shuuhei, vice- captain of the 9th squad of Gotei 13" the young man announced, still keeping his head down.

"Arise, Hisagi Shuuhei." The vice-captain swallowed nervously and pushed himself up, locking his knees so his legs wouldn't wobble under his weight as he raised his eyes to look up at the men staring down on him.

"You have returned from your mission in the Real World concerning the small group of rebels known better as the Visoreds" another of the judges continued, "are you ready to give us your report?"

"Yes, sir."

"Proceed." Shuuhei drew in a shaky breath before he started talking. He was almost surprised that none of them interrupted him, though he heard some commotion among the men as he went on with his report. He felt his face burning as he lied straight to the faces of the members of the Central 46 about how the Visoreds were completely harmless, visions of Kensei raging in his Hollow form flickered through his mind. When he finally uttered the last words of his report the six judges turned to each other and muttered something between them, the other members also started to discuss about they had just heard. After a minute the judges turned back to Shuuhei and the hall was silenced.

"So you expect us to believe that these…Visoreds oppose no threat whatsoever to the Soul Society?" one of them asked him, sounding amused. The young vice- captain drew in a deep breath and exhaled before answering.

"Yes sir, that is what I found out when I was in the Real World." The members of the Central 46 started arguing loudly, some even standing up and shouting out their objections.

"Preposterous!"

"Lies, this man's judgment cannot be trusted!"

"The Gotei 13 has become more arrogant than ever, we should've never let Yamamoto take over!"

"The rebels must be annihilated!" Shuuhei had to bow his head again and bite his tongue so he wouldn't shout back at the men. Just the thought of these ignorant people bringing down judgment on his friends made his blood boil. The judges silenced the angry crowd and focused back on Shuuhei.

"As you can see your report does not fully convince the Central 46. Have you any evidence to support your claims?"

"Sir, as a member of the Gotei 13 and the vice-captain of the 9th squad you have my word that everything that I have told you is absolutely true" he answered, his voice calm and steady. His anger had calmed down to a cold rage that made it actually easier to lie to these men who were planning on murdering his friends and their own allies. He didn't even doubt his own words anymore, to his mind he was telling them the truth. If the Central 46 would go through of hunting down the Visoreds they had other enemies to consider than just the former Shinigami.

"I see" the judge speaking to him said and seemed to shuffle some papers in front of him, "it says here that you slayed your own captain, Tousen Kaname during the Winter War. You served under him for several years, how come you were not aware of their plans to overthrow the Soul King?" Shuuhei was baffled by the turn that the questioning had taken.

"Sir, no one in the whole Soul Society had any idea of Aizen's plans, not even the older captains who worked beside him. Or his own vice-captain, or Ichimaru Gin's vice-captain. And sir, considering the abilities of the traitor Aizen's Zanpakutou, even if someone had somehow been able to find out their plans, they probably would've been killed or hypnotized before being able to reveal them to anyone else" he said, and then added, with some hesitation, "and if I may remind you sir, that the Central 46 was responsible for exiling the only men who knew of Aizen's plans over a century ago."

His words aroused another commotion among the Central 46 and he could hear Kazeshini's evil cackle in the back of his head. The spirit was obviously enjoying the chaos around him.

"Silence!" The judges stared down at the young man, their anger quite obvious.

"Young man, it is not your duty to question the decisions of the Central 46."

"Even if they led to the near destruction of the whole Soul Society?"

"Silence! That matter does not concern this meeting and has no relevance to the matter at hand!"

"Yes, it does!" Shuuhei was himself taken aback by his courage. The members of the Central 46 stared at him with puzzlement and anger.

"The Central 46 condemned their own captains and vice-captains to death and imprisonment, refusing to listen to the witnesses of the case and almost dooming the whole Soul Society by ignoring Urahara Kisuke's words. The Central 46 made it possible for Aizen to continue with his plans to destroy the Soul King and the whole Soul Society, allowing him to massacre several innocent people and in the end the very members of the Central 46. It was their ignorance that cost the Gotei 13 several valuable members and close friends, ending in War that still haunts everyone involved. If you now choose to hunt down the very people who saved the Soul Society from being overthrown by the traitor you let roam free, I can swear that they are not the only enemies you have to fear." Shuuhei didn't stay behind long enough to hear what the Central 46 had to say about his insolence and didn't really care anymore. _If those ignorant bastards even think about going after Kensei…I'll rip out their spines with my bare hands._

Kazeshini's low chuckle echoed in his head as he stormed out of the Underground Assembly Hall.

"_That's more like it, Shinigami, let it all out! If you keep on like this, you might even someday earn my respect. Well, maybe I'm being overly generous" _the spirit jeered at him. He could see it almost dancing around in his soul, its long red and black hair swirling around as it moved.

"Shut up, this is not the time" he muttered under his breath as he exited the building, trying to get out as fast as possible. The adrenaline was still coursing through his veins but he was already painfully aware of the consequences that his actions could have. _Threatening the Central 46 was a real smart move, Shuuhei, now they'll never attack the Visoreds. I'll most likely be demoted, or even locked inside the Maggot's Nest. Fuck, I wasn't aware that I could screw things up even further._

When he was finally outside the Central 46 building, he quickly shunpo'd away, not wanting to face anyone in his current state. The waves of rage were calming down, leaving him with the horrible feeling of dread of things to come. He was sure that he'd be thrown into prison or executed and then Soul Society would hunt the Visoreds down, killing them like common Hollows, their only crime being the victims of Aizen's twisted plans. Shuuhei decided to stay away from Seireitei, heading to the woods outside Rukongai. He wanted to be alone, he couldn't face his friends knowing he had betrayed everyone's trust with his outburst. _I've doomed them all…This should've never happened, _he cursed to himself and bit his lip to stop the burning tears from falling down to his cheeks. He finally made it to the depths of the forest and landed amidst the trees, falling to his knees beneath an old willow. He slumped down, pressing his face into his hands. He rocked himself slowly back and forth, images of cold prison cells and lifeless bodies running through his mind as he quietly wailed for his sorrow and anger. He could hear the judges announce their decision to execute the Visoreds, see how they were attacked in their own home and cut down like helpless animals. Some of them had time to react and fight back, ending in destruction and more blood spilling on the ground.

Shuuhei could see the light fading from Kensei's eyes, hear the muted thud as his body hit the floor, blood flowing from his mouth and from the gaping hole in his chest. _Stop it, stop it stop it stop it STOP IT! _he screamed to himself as he buried his fingers into his hair, tearing it out as he gritted his teeth together to stop himself from crying his pain out to the world. He didn't even know how long he had been there, crouching on the ground with horrible images flashing in his mind when he felt a familiar reiatsu nearing him. He quickly tried to compose himself, swallowing back the tears and wiped his face, hiccupping as he stood up and glanced around him for the source of the reiatsu.

"Hisagi-san, may I come?" Renji's voice was gruff but soft, he was talking to him like to a frightened child hiding under a bed, scared by the shadows playing on his bedroom wall. Shuuhei nodded, his body still shaking from the convulsions of his sorrow. The red haired vice-captain slowly emerged from among the trees, now hiding his reiatsu that others couldn't spot him. He walked to Shuuhei's side and saw what state the man was in. He sighed and wrapped his arms gently around him, pressing his head against his shoulder, his hand stroking his neck.

"It's alright, it's okay" he quietly murmured into Shuuhei's ear while holding him tightly against his warm body. Shuuhei sighed, sobs still breaking through as he tried to find words with which to describe his thoughts.

"You don't have to say anything, I know" Renji said before he got his act together. He frowned but then decidds to let it go, Renji had always been able to read him like an open book. He remembered how the man used to hold him like this, when they were still in the Academy. After the incident with the Hollows during their training session they had become really close friends, even more than that. They had spent the days training and the nights in bed, curled up against each other in loving bliss. But it had been just puppy love, infatuation that had passed in few months. Shuuhei didn't even really think about it anymore, their friendship had settled to its current level, sometimes on a night out they might end up in the same bed but just to sleep next to each other, finding comfort in the other's calming presence. Renji had always been reliable and steady as a rock, he would've wanted to spend more time with him after the War but he'd been so busy, as had Renji. Shuuhei felt suddenly embarrassed for his outburst and the way he was the one being comforted when his friend had gone through hell in Hueco Mundo, defying almost certain death time and time again. He pushed himself gently away from the man's embrace and looked at him straight in the eyes. The redhead stroke his face with his thumb and smiled.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah" he nodded, drawing in a slow, shaky breath and managed to flash a smile to the man. Renji nodded back, looking relieved and hugged him again, his hand stroking Shuuhei's back affectionately.

"Why did you run away, I was waiting for you outside your barracks" he asked, his tattooed brow knitted together in worry.

"I…I just couldn't face anyone…I let you all down, I'm so sorry…"

"Whaddya mean?" Shuuhei groaned in frustration and pressed his hand to his forehead. He felt so ashamed by his actions and retelling them to his friend made the guilt burn even more.

"For threatening the Central 46, now they will never let the Visoreds alone and I'll probably be executed or at least thrown into Maggot's Nest…" His explanation was cut short by the low chuckle that rumbled in Renji's chest. He frowned at the man and poked him in the chest.

"What's so funny? Didn't you hear what I said, I've ruined everything! It was all for nothing, I've just made things worse!" Renji tried to stop laughing as he patted Shuuhei on the shoulder, drying tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Oh Shuuhei, you've got it all so wrong I don't even know where to begin…" The redhead shook his head as he still uttered small laughs until he finally managed to compose himself and looked at Shuuhei straight in the eyes.

"Listen now, after you left, the Central 46 was in bit of a state, I grant you that, but captains Kyoraku and Ukitake went in and told them that they had done some research on the matter with the help of captain Kurotsuchi and it all matches, there has been no significant reaitsu changes in Karakura ever since Ichigo lost his Shinigami powers and it seems that the Visoreds power has almost faded to none, perhaps due to destruction of the Hogyoku. Of course they left out the fact that Urahara's gigais seal away spiritual pressure and the Hogyoku is near indestructible but nevertheless. Well, the old geezers were still pretty livid about your behavior and threats, which I by the way congratulate you, you beautiful bastard, but then the Head Captain himself waltzed in and said some stern words about post-traumatic stress and all that shit and now all is just dandy. If you just stay away from the Central 46 for the rest of your life that is."

Shuuhei stared at Renji with his mouth open, trying to take in what he had just heard. Slowly he mulled over the words and then began to understand what they meant. _They're going to live. Kensei's going to live. I'm going to live. We are going to live. Everything's going to be fine. _Shuuhei couldn't help the idiotic smile that spread to his face, the laugh that bubbled in his stomach. He was now sure he was going insane, it's not normal to feel such a spectrum of extreme emotions in such short time. Laughing out loud feels cleansing, it flowed over his thoughts like cooling water and made all the awful images disappear from his head. Now when he thought of Kensei he didn't see him bleeding to death on the floor, he saw him scowling at him as usual, trying to fight to smile that was creeping to his face. The former captain's gruff voice as he begged Shuuhei to come closer and his arms that wrap around him, pulling him into a tight bearhug that almost squeezed all the air out of his lungs. He laughed so hard it almost hurt, his abs and sides were straining as he leaned into Renji to stay up, the man chuckling at his mirth.

"Don't overdo it, baka, there's someone who most definitely wants to see you alive and well." Shuuhei snapped out of his laughter and stared at Renji.

"Wha- what do you mean?" Slowly a thought registered in his brain and his eyes widened to much Renji feared they'd fall out.

"Is he _here_?" Renji managed to nod before the vice-captain disappeared from his side, shunpo'ing away with lightning speed. The redhead burst into laughter and set after the man, trying to catch up with the speed of a man in love.

* * *

><p>Kensei was kicking the dust around the training ground of his old squad. He had almost shat himself when Ukitake had shown up at their warehouse, asking him to accompany him to Soul Society. He had already been drawing out his Zanpakutou, fearing for Shuuhei's life, that something had gone terribly wrong but no. The pale captain had laughed at him happily, assuring that everything was fine and that his Shuuhei was okay. They just wanted to surprise him, for some weird reason. Kensei didn't mind, he was flying out the door the second Ukitake mentioned Shuuhei's name. Now he had been waiting in the old training grounds, scaring off any new recruits that had come to look at the freak show, those legendary Visoreds that had fought against Aizen in the War. One icy glare from Kensei had sent them running.<p>

"Aww c'mon Kensei, stop pacing, you're making me nervous" Shinji whined from the veranda of the barracks.

"No one asked you to come."

The blonde had tagged along, not taking a no for an answer when Kensei had tried to scare him off like the recruits. His glares and scowls had lost their power against the former captain years ago. He was leaning back on a wooden pole and covered his eyes from the sun with his hat, whistling some irritating tune that was even off key.

"Would you just shut it for a second, I'm going crazy here" he grunted at the man who just smirked at him with those horribly disturbing teeth and crossed his hands behind his head, his left leg resting on top of the right one.

"Just cool down, he'll be here when he's done with the old geezers."

"He should be done by now. Plus I don't trust those bastards, they might just kill him for the hell of it."

"I'd think Yama-jii would strongly object to that you know."

"Wouldn't bet on it." Shinji gave up on trying to hammer some sense into Kensei's head, he would never tell him but sometimes the man reminded him of Hiyori with his stubborn attitude an fiery temper. _How come I've survived with those two with so little bloodshed, I should be given a goddamn medal or something…_

Suddenly he sensed a familiar coming towards them, with great speed. He grinned under the brim of his hat as he saw Kensei whip around to the direction of the reiatsu, the man's whole body tensed up. And soon enough Shuuhei landed on the training grounds, looking like a real mess. His face was streaked with the stains of tears, his hair was even messier than usual and his clothes rumbled. He stared at Kensei from few feet away, his chest heaving up and down as he swallowed and tried to catch his breath. A second later Renji landed next to him, crouching on the ground and his eyes moving from Shuuhei to the Visoreds, a slow smirk spread to his face. He rose up and dusted himself, then patted Shuuhei on the back and nudged him towards Kensei. The man himself headed towards Shinji and nodded to the barracks. The blonde caught the hint and pushed himself up, throwing one last glance at the two men still standing rigidly at their place.

"C'mon, let them sort it out by themselves" he heard Renji mutter as he walked past and entered the barracks. Shinji followed suit and slid the door close behind him.

Kensei noticed he had held his breath from the second he had sensed the young man's reiatsu coming closer. He exhaled heavily, his head felt light. His eyes were fixed on Shuuhei who looked like he'd been hit by a truck, or seen a flock of puppies die. Whatever it was, the kid was pretty shaken, his face showing all kinds of weird small expressions at the same time. Kensei closed the distance between them with few long strides and cupped the vice-captain's face into his hands. He stroked the kid's face with his thumbs, his mind filled with concern as he noticed how red his eyes were.

"You alright kid?" he asked with his voice coming out as a low rumble, promising to hurt anyone who had upset the young man. To his surprise Shuuhei broke into a wide smile and uttered a small laugh.

"Yes, never better" he replied and leaned closer, pressing their lips together into a deep kiss. Kensei responded to the kiss with equal passion, though it hadn't even been a day since he had touched Shuuhei it felt like forever. He could still feel the salty taste of tears on the young man, his brows knitting together with concern again. He wanted to know what had happened with the Central 46 and why was he in such a state.

Kensei slowly broke the kiss, Shuuhei still nibbling on his lower lip as he drew his head back. His hand went to the young man's hair, stroking the spikes affectionately.

"What happened to you after you left" he murmured, "you look like shit." The vice-captain croaked out a laugh and sighed, leaning his head against Kensei's shoulder. He inhaled the man's scent and wrapped his arms around the man's mid section.

"I was so scared I'd lost you" he whispered as he planted light kisses on the man's skin, trailing a path up his neck to his ear and from there to his face. The man chuckled and his hands kept stroking his hair and back like Renji's before. But his touch felt nothing like the redhead's, Shuuhei felt like he was on fire and Kensei's touch was cold water being poured over his aching skin, soothing away the pain and relaxing his tense muscles.

"Well I'm here now so there's nothing to be scared of" the former captain answered, nuzzling his nose against Shuuhei's. The young man's face was lit with a smile that looked so happy it was ridiculous and made him laugh out loud. Shuuhei didn't seem to mind but instead kissed him again, this time slower and more deliberately, his tongue running over Kensei's lips and teeth and entwining with his tongue. The corners of Kensei's mouth curled upwards as he responded to the kiss, his hands wrapping tighter around Shuuhei's body and pressing him closer to his body.

Shuuhei let out a soft moan as Kensei took over and tilted his head slightly backwards, the man's firm grip on his neck keeping his head in place so he couldn't break their kiss. His hands slipped under the man's shirt and traced the lines of scars and muscles on his back. There was hardly any part on the man's body that wasn't flawed by battle scars but he adored every single one of them, his fingers brushing gently over them as he tried to memorize every line and track that criss-crossed the man's skin. Their kiss deepened as they slowly adjusted their heads heads, opening their mouths wider to allow more contact. Shuuhei wanted to drown himself in the kiss, never let go of the man that he had just minutes ago lost, in his mind at least. It had been shocking how badly just thinking about the possibility had hurt him, it was worse than any physical pain he had ever felt. The image of Kensei's lifeless body had seared his mind like an incandescent blade pushed through his head, sending waves of nausea and pain all over his body. Every second more that their kiss lasted wiped away a horrible image of his brain, replacing them with sweet bliss that was to hold Kensei close to him.

He groaned in protest as the man pulled himself slowly away, but still keeping their lips together. He planted light kisses on Shuuhei's face as the young man enjoyed the caresses with his eyes closed.

"Ready to tell me what happened?" the former captain murmured, his hands still securely wrapped around the young man.

"Do I have to?" he whispered back, not wanting to think about the whole catastrophe anymore.

"I wanna know what got you so upset, and kill the bastard." Shuuhei let out a small chuckled and kissed Kensei again.

"I don't think that's very wise."

"Well tell me what happened so I can judge it myself." With a resigned sigh, Shuuhei started to slowly tell him what had happened after he had left the Real World. He kept his eyes fixed on Kensei's collar-bone the whole time spoke, seeing the man's muscles tense as he talked about the Central 46's reaction to his report. He heard his sharp intake of breath as he repeated what he had told them and the man's grip on his neck tightened, thumb slowly tracing a line from his hairline to the nape of his neck. Then he continued to tell him about his panic attack and things he had feared, making Kensei let out a long sigh and the man pulled him close to his chest.

"Stupid kid" he muttered as he ran his fingers through the young man's hair. Shuuhei swallowed and told him the rest, how Renji had found him and told what the other captains had done.

"So then…I just had to see you." Kensei scoffed and pressed a kiss on his forehead, ruffling the man's hair.

"By Kami kid, you're so messed up, I don't know what I'll do with you." Shuuhei's face fell upon hearing the words, making the former captain chuckle and kiss him on the mouth as a reassurance.

"Which is why it's good that now I have the rest of my life to figure it out."

"You mean…you'll stay here?" the young man asked, his tone going a pitch higher from sheer joy. Kensei shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure yet, Ukitake and Kyoraku have apparently something planned for me, but they won't tell me what it is" he said, frowning as he thought about the two men, "those two have a strange way to make things happen. And I wouldn't be surprised if Urahara was in it too." Shuuhei sighed and leaned his head against Kensei's shoulder.

"This whole thing is getting way too complicated for comfort. I don't know what's up and what's down anymore."

"That makes two of us then." The former captain flashed the young man a rare genuine smile and patted him on the back.

"But now all we have to worry is ourselves, let the brainiacs do the thinking for us, eh? Now, if I can remember correctly, there used to be a hot spring somewhere around here, I think what you need now is a hot bath and some quiet time. You deserve it." Shuuhei smiled back at the man, nuzzling his head to the hollow of his neck.

"I'd love that."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9. **

Shuuhei leaned his head back and sighed contently. The hot water seemed to melt away all his tension and stress, even calming his mind down and leaving behind just the lovely feeling of happiness. Kensei was scrubbing himself beside him, hissing between his teeth as the hot water stung his recent wounds and scratches. Shuuhei didn't bother asking about them, he figured the man would tell him if he wanted to. He let his legs float up from the bottom of the pool, his toes sticking through the surface of the water. Kensei glanced at his feet and reached his hand to tickle them. The vice- captain quickly drew his feet away from the man's grasp and glared at him, but without any real anger in his eyes. He instead struggled to keep the smile off his face.

"Keep your hands to yourself, old pervert" he said, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. Kensei huffed and sunk underwater, he was nearly invisible behind all the steam. Suddenly Shuuhei felt two hands grabbing onto his legs and pull him underwater, he had just enough time to breath air into his lungs before his head hit the surface of the water. He batted his eyes few times before he could see anything in the misty water and saw Kensei's grinning face in front him, the man was still gripping onto his ankles. The former captain pulled him closer, his legs parting to the man's sides. Kensei wrapped his arms around Shuuhei's waist and kissed him, bubbles floating from their mouths to the surface. The young man wrapped his own hands around Kensei's neck, responding softly to the kiss. Finally they had to let go and float back to the surface, gasping for air. Shuuhei laughed and pulled the man against him again, pressing his head to the crook of his neck.

"You're such a child" he murmured against the man's moist skin. He heard him scoff and felt the man's hands tighten their grip on his waist.

"You're one to talk, kid" Kensei replied, kissing Shuuhei's neck and shoulders. He snuggled his nose against the young man's ear and nibbled on his earlobe, making him squeal a little.

"That tickles" he moaned and tried to lean away from the man's touch, but in vain. Kensei moved his hand from Shuuhei's waist to his neck, keeping his head in place so he could continue his assault on the man's skin.

"Resistance is futile" he said in an ominous low tone that made the vice-captain burst into laughter and give in to the man's kisses.

"I had no idea you could be like this" he giggled as Kensei's lips travelled along his neckline.

"It's your fault" the former captain muttered back and nuzzled his nose against Shuuhei's cheek. The young man buried his hand into his silvery hair, planted a kiss on his forehead and smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt like this, so completely at peace and happy. It was hard not to smile like a complete idiot all the time but he tried to contain himself, Kensei already thought he was a mental case so there was no need to provide him with further evidence.

The man's touches were slowly getting to him, he could feel the familiar heat pool down to his groin as Kensei's lips roamed over the sensitive areas of his skin. His fingers buried themselves deeper into the man's hair, scraping his scalp. He locked his feet together behind Kensei's back, pulling their lower bodies together. He felt an almost electric sensation course through him as he felt the man's erection brush against his thigh and he blushed. Kensei chuckled lowly, his chest heaving slightly and he raised his eyes to look at the young man.

"Still so shy" the former captain noted, shaking his head a little. Shuuhei's blush deepened and he bit his lower lip, trying to control his anxiety the man's close proximity caused in him.

"Are you still scared of me?" Kensei asked, raising his hand to caress the young man's cheek, "and be honest with me."

"No, I'm not" Shuuhei answered, pushing his face gently against the man's hand," I just…I'm not used to this kind of…thing."

"'Thing'? What an eloquent way to put it" the older man chuckled and pressed a kiss on the end of the vice-captain's nose.

"Ah, you know, all this…being close and…intimate…sorta." Now the former captain laughed out loud, ruffling the young man's hair.

"You're such a virgin, aren't you?"

"No I'm not!" Shuuhei protested, pouting his lips to the other man. Kensei cocked an eyebrow to him and pulled back, a sly grin creeping to his face.

"Oh really? Well tell me then, how many people have you slept with?" he asked him. Shuuhei's face got even redder, he looked like a cooked lobster at this point. He lowered his head so he wouldn't have to look Kensei in the eye.

"You…you're not supposed to ask that kind of thing."

"Why not? We're both grown-ups, I know you have histories with other people, as do I. Now spill it, virgin. How many?" Kensei's teasing tone of voice made Shuuhei shift around, his hands slowly sliding off the man's shoulders and under the water, rubbing against his own thighs.

"I…I don't know, I can't remember…"

"Well at least throw me a bone here, you can't have always been so drunk you've lost all count" the former captain laughed at the young man's sudden coyness.

"I don't know…under ten."

"But over five?" Shuuhei nodded slowly, he felt as if his whole face was on fire. The older man reached his hand to stroke his face gently.

"It's okay kid, no need to be shy" he said softly, his grin had turned into a gentle smile, "well, I can say for sure that I've had way over ten partners. Well, I say partners, most of them were just considered good fun. Some of them, not that good." Shuuhei raised his eyes back to the man. He had made him feel like a small child again. _Way over ten? So that's basically anything from ten to a hundred. _

"That many?" he asked, trying to cover up his growing jealousy. He felt stupid for being jealous of Kensei's former partners, of course he'd been with other people. _He is gorgeous, he was a captain, probably all the Shinigami drooled after him in his time. _

"Well most of them during the Academy, those were some wild years I tell you" the former captain laughed, his face melting into an expression of genuine happiness. The sight warmed Shuuhei, he wanted to make him feel like that all the time. He deserved it.

"Anyone special?" Hearing the vice-captain shy question Kensei stopped laughing and straightened his face. He looked at Shuuhei's almost desperate expression, the kid's bright eyes and reddened cheeks, his teeth chewing on his lower lip. _By Kami he's so goddamn…fuckable. Shit, not now, not now, gotta concentrate, focus man, focus! What did he say, shit, I can't remember. Why's he sitting on my lap thinking I'm capable of any rational thought? _

"Kensei? Did you hear me?" Shuuhei asked tentatively, the man was giving him weird looks. It brought to mind the kind of look that a starving man would have when faced with a barbecued chicken.

"Sorry, what you say?" the man asked, finally snapping out of his weird daze.

"I asked if you had anyone special…before."

"Oh, right yeah, yeah…" Kensei scratched the back of his head, rolling his eyes upwards as if skimming through all his partners in his head, "nooot really no. I've had some longer relationships but they didn't really go anywhere, or just fell apart. I've never been one to commit."

"Oh…okay." Shuuhei's faint response made the older man look back at him and then think over at his words.

"No, no, don't take it like that" he quickly retorted, placing his hands on the young man's shoulders, "this, with you, is totally different from anything before, I swear. I've never felt like this with anyone, you're special to me Shuuhei." The former captain's words made Shuuhei's head spin, he would've never believed hearing someone say his own name could feel like this.

"I…I'm glad" he managed to utter and felt like a total idiot. _You're not supposed to say something so lame to that! Boke!_

"I…What I mean is…" he tried to patch up his blunder but was silenced by a soft kiss that Kensei pressed on his lips. _Oh…well, this is better anyway._ He surrendered to the kiss gladly, massaging his lips against Kensei's and opening his mouth so he could slide his tongue out. The former captain entwined his own tongue with his, stroking it gently and tasting Shuuhei's mouth, tracing every line on his lips. His hands slid down from the vice- captain's shoulders to his sides then down to his thighs, caressing them slowly and deliberately.

"Kensei" Shuuhei sighed as the older man dropped his head little lower to ravish his neck and collarbone, his own lips pressing kisses on the man's forehead and hair.

"You're finally saying it right, kid" the man chuckled as a reply as he traced a line of kisses and nibbles across Shuuhei's collarbones and shoulders, then down to his chest.

The young man drew in a shaky breath and pressed his face into the Kensei's hair, inhaling his clean scent. The man's hands were slowly making their way closer to his groin, his fingers slipping under his fundoshi. Shuuhei bit down on his lip again to stop himself from moaning out loud, the sweet tingling sensation was getting almost too much to bear.

"Shuuhei, are you here? Shuu-hei!" Kensei stopped and slowly moved his eyes to Shuuhei's face. He mouthed out a silent question "who the hell?" The vice-captain groaned and quickly scrambled away from the man's lap, miming apologies to him as he pushed himself further away from him.

"Here, Rangiku-san" he yelled back, his face knitted into a desperate expression of an apology. Kensei only frowned at him, trying to recognize the reiatsu that was coming closer to them. Judging by the voice, it was a female. Kensei could faintly remember hearing the name mentioned in some instance, maybe she was one of the Shinigami who had come to the Real World to fight with the Arrancar.

As said, Rangiku Matsumoto burst into the scene, her face spreading into a wide grin as she saw Shuuhei lounging in the pool. She quickly ran to him, knelt down and grabbed him into a tight hug, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

"Shuuhei, I've missed you so much!" she exclaimed while the man was gasping for air, "it's been so boring without you, Renji's been training and Kira's just a pain, you have no idea…"

"Alright, Rangiku-san, calm down" Shuuhei managed to utter and patted the woman on the back, "could you please let me go now?" The woman loosened her death grip and leaned back from the edge of the pool, flicking her hair back over her shoulder, laughing airily as she did. Only then she laid her eyes on Kensei, who was brooding on the other side of the pool.

"Oh, I didn't see you had company, Shuuhei" she chirped, batting her eyelids in a manner that reminded Shuuhei so much of Mashiro, "would you care to introduce us?"

"Eerrr…" the young man wasn't quite sure how the former captain would react to Rangiku, judging by his distaste for Mashiro he probably wouldn't have much patience for the vice-captain of the tenth squad either, "this is Kensei Muguruma, the former captain of the ninth squad." He cringed as he heard the woman's sharp intake of breath upon hearing the man's name.

"Oh…" she muttered and stared openly at the man, "I thought you looked familiar." She scrambled up from her knees and straightened her uniform. Shuuhei wasn't sure was it because she was embarrassed for her unprofessional behavior or wanted to make a good impression on the man.

"I've seen your face somewhere before" Kensei grunted, not really happy about the interruption.

"Matsumoto, where are you?" Shuuhei rolled his eyes and sighed as he heard another familiar voice shouting. Rangiku turned around and shouted back:

"By the pools, Kira, you baka!"

"Rangiku, why are you here?" Shuuhei asked, his voice strained though he tried to hide it.

"To see you, of course, you silly!" the woman laughed, her bright smile wasn't having its usual effect on him, "there's been so much talk about you, we wanted to see how've you been! We're your friends!"

As she talked, Kira stumbled into the scene, looking disheveled and tired. He greeted Shuuhei with a slight nod of his head and then focused his eyes on Kensei.

"So he's the guy" he muttered, dusting of his uniform and glanced at Shuuhei with suspicious eyes, "you alright, Hisagi-san?"

"I'm fine guys, what's the problem?" The young man was getting agitated, he really didn't want to do this now, not here.

"Nothing, we just wanted to see you, like I said" Rangiku replied.

"Kira, what is it?" Shuuhei asked, looking at the blonde man straight in the eyes. The vice-captain fidgeted in his place and then threw his head back with a sigh.

"Listen, Hisagi-san, we've had some wild rumours floating around the Seireitei for the last few days and we just wanted to see for our own eyes…and apparently they were true." Shuuhei followed Kira's gaze and ended up staring at Kensei.

"Wh- what do you mean by that?" he asked. Kira and Rangiku looked suddenly quite awkward, shifting their feet under them and avoiding his eyes.

"Spit it out." The Shinigami snapped their heads up to look at Kensei who had just spoken, his voice resembling more of a rumble than a human sound. Shuuhei felt sudden tingling on his skin again, but this time it was similar to the feeling he had gotten earlier when the former captain's inner Hollow had been unleashed. _Oh gods please, not now, please…_

"They've been saying that you're sleeping with the enemy" Rangiku blurted out, "basically." Shuuhei kept his eyes fixed on Kensei, trying to somehow telepathically tell him to stay calm.

"Why do you care?" he asked the two Shinigami, still not looking back at them.

"Bu—but, Hisagi-san, you can't be serious" Kira scoffed with disbelief, "you could ruin yourself completely, the Central 46 were furious with you…"

"I know that. But since I don't care, why should you? It's my life and my choices, so I say this to you just once" Shuuhei turned his head slowly, not wanting to tear his eyes off Kensei, "stay out of this." Something in his voice made both Rangiku and Kira step back. The vice-captain's eyes were dark and his reiatsu felt heavy, as did the Visored's. Rangiku could almost see their spiritual forces mix with one another around the men, making the air feel cold and somehow almost tangible.

Kira's hand was slowly reaching for his Zanpakutou when Rangiku stopped him. She didn't move her eyes from the two men but started to slowly back out.

"We're sorry Shuuhei, we'll leave you alone now" she said, her voice steady and calm though Kira could feel her hand shaking on his, "come and see us later, alright?" With that, the two shunpo'd away, leaving Shuuhei and Kensei alone again. As soon as the vice-captain was sure they had gone far enough, he exhaled heavily, his shoulders slumping down and his body slowly lowering back into the water. Kensei was quickly by his side, grabbing him into his arms.

"You okay kid" he murmured into his ear, feeling the boy's reiatsu faltering. He knew that it took time to get used to being near a Visored's reiatsu, the weird mixture of Shinigami and Hollow powers could be overwhelming at first and it took time to get over one's kneejerk reaction to attack its source. The Hollow reiatsu was so different from the pure energy of a Shinigami with in all its heaviness and darkness, it could consume you if you weren't careful. _And he's got a load of it in the past few days, _Kensei thought as he gently stroked Shuuhei's face with the back of his hand, _there's something about it that makes it even worse than pure Hollow reiatsu, maybe because it's such an abomination to the Shinigami it somehow twists their own energy…I dunno, why am I even trying to figure this out? Where's Urahara when you need him?_

Shuuhei's eyes had rolled to the back of his head and his body went limp in Kensei's arms.

"Oh shit" the man muttered and quickly leaped out of the pool, lowering the young man's body to the ground and grabbed the towels from the pool's edge. He gently wrapped them around the vice-captain, murmuring softly to him the whole time.

"Fuck shit fuck, where's Shinji, where's everyone right now…" he cursed under his breath as he tended to the young boy. He tried to feel out for the blonde Visored's reiatsu, Shinji was the only one he could trust at the moment. He still wasn't at ease with the old captains, no matter how nice they were treating him. He wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing was their plot to drag them all out of their hiding but he hadn't cared about it, all he could think about was Shuuhei. That was probably why Shinji had tagged along, he had more sense in him than Kensei at the moment. The former captain knew he wasn't thinking straight but fuck it, he had told the kid he'd fight off the whole Soul Society if he had to, and he was a man of his word.

Luckily, he felt Shinji's familiar reiatsu coming closer, the blonde had probably been spying on them somewhere in the near distance. The trench-coated man landed just few meters away from them and approached them with caution, obviously worried for Kensei's mental state. The silver-haired captain need not but to look at him once and he understood what had happened and was quickly by Shuuhei's side, feeling the man's face with the back of his hand.

"Can you do something?" Kensei asked his friend as the former captain continued checking on the vice-captain's vitals.

"He should come around by himself, if you could just keep your reiatsu under control" the blonde muttered and glanced at him from under his brow, his usual merry expression had turned into a more serious frown that almost reminded Kensei of the young man's usual concerned look.

"You really should try to contain yourself Kensei, if for nothing else than for Shuuhei. For Kami's sake, if you end up killing him when everyone's gone through so much trouble…"

"Hey, why don't you tell me about all this trouble before preaching about my own life, alright?" the other man spat out, "I have no idea what's going on, nor does Shuuhei. So would you please care to explain what the fuck's going on?"

Shinji was finished checking on Shuuhei and leaned back from him, sitting down on the ground next to the young man.

"Alright" he obliged, snatching his hat off his head and started to spin it on his finger, "guess now's as good as ever." Kensei knelt beside Shuuhei, his hands slowly stroking the vice-captain as he focused on Shinji.

"Okay, spit it out already" he grunted. The blonde leaned his chin on his palm and thought hard for a minute before talking.

"Alright, so basically after the War, Urahara knew that sooner or later the Seireitei would come after us. So, he contacted the oldest captains and begun to think of a plan how to arrange it all so that we could live our lives as they were before. He made a deal with Kyoraku and Ukitake that they would find a way conceal all reaitsu activity from us and make it seem that we never existed. For that they needed Urahara's knowledge on gigais and Kurotsuchi's help with the technological stuff, so they all had to be in this and still keep it from the Central 46. So in order to do that, we needed to include all the captains to the plot, especially old Yama-jii."

"Alright, but what does that have to do with Shuuhei?" Kensei frowned.

"Relax, I'm coming to it. So, this has been going on for some months now and was nearly finished when the Central 46 finally wanted the Gotei 13 to do something about us. We needed someone we could trust to be on our side to come to the Real World and do the report, so we'd look good and they'd let it go. But obviously, it wouldn't be so easy. Kyoraku found out that the Central 46 had a grudge against Yama-jii since he took over their duties after Aizen killed the previous members. So, they were just bluffing with this report thingy and were sending their own agents to the technological bureau to find out what data they had."

"Why even bother for the report if they weren't going to believe it anyway?"

"Well, they figured it would look suspicious if they just ignored us all together. And they thought that once we were concerned with the report, we wouldn't mind anything else. Stupid, but that's how they are. So, when they went to the technological bureau, they found nothing, as planned. But of course this raised their suspicions even more, as one would think. Hence they now had to actually rely on the report Hisagi here was doing, they figured he'd been quite good a vice-captain and wasn't around during the time when we were exiled. When he didn't report what they wanted to hear, of course they were pissed off! But then Kyoraku and Ukitake went around with the evidence from the technological bureau and they had no choice but to accept the fact that we are harmless. Plus Yama-jii's voice holds still some massive weight." Shinji's face was split to a widest grin Kensei had ever seen on him. Even he couldn't help the corners of his mouth curling slightly upwards thinking about the uproar Shuuhei had caused. _The kid's got some serious balls on him. But I already knew that._

"Okay so now we're all good? What about us two coming here, isn't that bit suspicious? And don't the Central 46 have their own agents, what if they find out about the scheme?" he asked, still not completely at ease with the situation. He still didn't trust the Seireitei to do anything good for them.

"Yeah, well Urahara knows whenever anyone enters the Real World so he'll keep us alert if something does happen anymore, but I doubt it. Yama-jii was pretty hard on the Central 46 about harassing young Hisagi here, bringing up his experiences in the War and connections with Tousen was pretty low, even for them. So I'd say we can breathe easy now. But as for us coming here, that's bit of a secret."

"Well I figured out that much myself" Kensei scoffed "but can I stay here then, Ukitake mentioned something about prolonged visit or some shit."

"I'd say you can, I think Kurotsuchi wanted to do some tests on a Visored so that's probably your alibi here" Shinji grinned.

"Oh that sounds just great" the former captain jeered and lowered his eyes back to Shuuhei, who was seemingly calmer now, almost as if he was asleep.

"Well it's better than being executed, eh?" the blonde man said, placing his hat back onto his head.

"I wouldn't bet on it" Kensei muttered as he gently nudged Shuuhei to wake him up.

"Maybe you should just take him to his quarters, his better off resting there than here on the ground."

"Yeah, you're right." The former captain slid his hand under Shuuhei's body and stood up, carrying him bridal style. Shinji tried to cover up his smile as he walked in front of the men and opened the door for them. Kensei started to walk towards the captain's quarters from old memory, leaving Shinji standing by the door. The blonde knew when to give those two some much needed privacy. He sat on the porch again and patted his pockets for his cigarettes. He was just lighting one when he sensed a powerful reiatsu coming closer. He inhaled the bitter smoke as Renji appeared on the training grounds and walked up to him.

"I saw Matsumoto and Kira, I can guess what happened" he said as he stood in front of the former captain. Shinji chuckled and his shoulder jumped up and down. He looked up at Renji from under the brim of his hat.

"Our little Shuuhei has grown some serious balls during the past few days" he noted and tapped off some ashes from his cigarette.

"Nah, he's always had it in him, he's just starting to use it now" the redhead said and leaned his back against a pole on the porch. He slid his hand inside his shirt and drew out a crunched packet of cigarettes and some matches. He put a cigarette between his lips and stroke a match against the pole he was leaning on to. Soon the bluish smoke was drifting from his cigarette.

"I take it you know him a bit better than the others" Shinji asked as he stared ahead of him at the empty yard.

"You could say that."

"Alright" the blonde said and grinned to himself. _That tells me more than enough. _

"You're not jealous?" he continued, blowing out smoke rings. Renji snorted, making smoke come out of his nostrils.

"Why should I be? If that Muguruma guy can make Shuuhei finally stand up for himself I'm more than glad. Hell, I might even shake his hand for it. I don't think anyone suffered more during the War than him so he deserves to be happy for once."

"But you don't care if you're not the one making him happy?" The redhead glared at the Visored.

"Shuuhei's just a friend to me, what we had was happened a lifetime ago."

"Still, seeing your former lover in the arms of a Visored, and much older than him too…"

"Hey, listen up now, I don't care who this guy is, all I care about is that Shuuhei's finally coming back to his senses. Muguruma can have four arms and three nipples for all I care." Renji stumped his cigarette under the heel of his sandal and folded his arms across his chest. He glanced over his shoulder at the barracks where Kensei had carried Shuuhei.

"You have no idea how fucked up he's been since Aizen treachery. He blames himself for everything, and no one gets through to him, not even me. When I heard he was sent into the Real World I thought that it would either turn him back to normal or then he'd go completely insane. Seems now that it actually was for the better" he paused and looked at Shinji with darkened eyes and lowered his tone, "but if he hurts Shuuhei, I'll hunt him down myself and skewer him like a pig."

Shinji knew he was stronger than the vice-captain but he could sense the man's massive reiatsu was nowhere near the normal vice-captain level. He was at least as strong as most of the current captain's and he had already achieved his Bankai before the Winter War. But his strength had grown more since the War. Shinji had heard that all of the vice-captains and captains had been training relentlessly after the War, their aim to fight against Aizen. That was beyond normal training or sparring so Renji's power level had increased immensely. Shinji realized that his threat actually carried some weight and it made him glad that they had been able to pull their scam off. If a mere vice-captain was at this level, they wouldn't have stood a chance against the Gotei 13.

"Well I'm sure you have nothing to worry about" he tried to joke, "Kensei's been going mad for the kid the whole time, and I mean that literally. I doubt there's any chance he'd let him go now."

"You'd better be right" Renji sighed and craned his head back to look at the darkening sky, "now all we have to worry about is how watertight this plan really is."

"I think with the combined efforts of the captains and Urahara we should be pretty safe" the blonde said and threw his cigarette stub on the ground where it smoked for a few seconds until going out. He crossed his hands behind his back and threw his leg over his knee.

"It's going to be a pretty night, don't you think?" he asked the redhead who was brooding quietly beside him. He could sense the man's anxiety, no matter what he had told him he was obviously still worried for his friend.

"Yeah" was his short reply and Shinji saw how he was straining not to look back at the barracks behind him. He could faintly feel Kensei's and Shuuhei's reiatsu but no alarming shifts in either of them. _Maybe the big idiot finally took my words to heart. But I guess I can't really blame it all on him, the kid's got something that just gets under his skin. Hope he can control it now when he's more used to it. _

"You gonna stay here or…" the redhead asked, shifting his weight from one leg to another. Shinji looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I was planning on going home, if I'm not needed anymore. How?"

"I just heard that captain Kyoraku is having some sort of a celebration in his personal quarters and I think you'd be welcomed too" Renji said and glanced down at him, now more at ease and his usual cocky grin spreading to his face, "but if you want to be a pervert and stay here, by all means." Shinji snorted at the remark and bounced up to his feet.

"Ah, I can still remember Kyoraku's parties, even after a century" he grinned, "and as interesting it would be to stay here, I think I'd rather go for the free sake."

"Who said it would be free?" the vice-captain smirked as he turned to the direction of Kyoraku's squad's barracks.

"Don't tease me, young Abarai, I have very low tolerance for humour when it comes to alcohol."

"I'd say that goes for all of us" the redhead laughed and shunpo'd away, the former captain following suit.

"First one there gets to buy the second round!"

"That makes no sense whatsoever!"

"Live a little, Abarai, what's life without bets?"

"Well be prepared to pay for the whole night then, you should concentrate more on your shunpo than talking!"

"Think you can beat me with those sluggish moves, kid? We'll see about that!"

"My words exactly!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Smutty sexytime (finally, geesh!) so be warned. Otherwise nothing much. **

**Chapter 10. **

Kensei was standing in front of the door to the captain's quarters, holding the still unconscious vice-captain in his arms. Kensei couldn't be sure but he could swear that no one had entered the room after Tousen had been revealed to be a traitor. _Well, aside from the Onmitsukido and Techs from the 12__th__ division, _he thought as he slid the door open, letting a ray of light in the room. The light crept up the floor, revealing an almost empty room with only a futon bed in the middle of it and empty cupboards on the sides, doors opened and shelves emptied. _Guess the kid didn't wanna touch anything here, don't blame him though. _The former captain felt his skin crawl as he stepped inside the vacant room, kicking the door shut with his foot behind him. Shuuhei didn't show any signs of coming to, but his chest moved up and down along his slightly heavy breathing.

Kensei lowered the young man slowly to the bed, making a cloud of dust puff in the air from the mattress as he did so. He coughed and swatted the air with his hand, muttering something about spring cleaning under his breath. He walked to the back door that opened into a small private garden, letting in some more fresh air. The garden was in pristine condition, so someone had taken it to their conscience. Kensei glanced at Shuuhei over his shoulder, the young man had curled into a fetal position on the bed, his head in his hands. He now noticed a pair of dressing kimonos that had been left next to the bed and walked over to grab one for himself, wrapping the silky garment around him to keep the cold away. He then stepped outside into the garden, feeling the slightly wet grass under his bare feet.

There was a small pond in the garden and an old sakura tree whose branches reached over the pond, dropping their flowers into the water. There were also some bushes and of course, white poppies, the squad's signature flowers growing in small spots around the garden. Kensei squatted down to pick one of the small flowers into his hand. The flowers had to be created artificially, they didn't grow naturally anywhere in the world and even now only within the squad's area. Kensei hadn't seen a white poppy in a century and though he had thought he'd dealt with the grudge and all other mixed emotions linking to Soul Society years ago, the smell of the flowers overflowed into his mind and made him wallow in memories. But the memories weren't about Aizen and being exiled, they were from the happier days when he had been a captain and lived a normal life, taking care of his duties to the squad and to Gotei 13, alongside with his companions and friends. Back in those days, their relationships hadn't been strained by constant fear of exposure and they hadn't had to hide from everyone, they had been happy.

_Seems like that time never even existed, _Kensei sighed inwardly and let the flower slip from his fingers to the ground. He dragged himself to the sakura tree and sat beneath it, leaning his back on its sturdy trunk. Suddenly he felt tired, the stress from the memories and all that had happened in the last few days took over his body and made his eyelids feel heavy. He noticed how his muscles ached, especially on his leg which he had hurt while sparring with Shinji. He craned his neck back, looking up to the evening sky. Stars were already coming out and the moon was high. _Maybe I should go check up on the kid, see if he's alright. _The former captain's eyes stared into the darkness of the room opposite his own vantage point and saw nothing.

In the distance he could hear people singing. Ukitake had mentioned something about a celebration of a successful enterprise at Kyoraku's place. The old captain had said that they were welcome to join the party but Kensei didn't feel like socializing at the moment. Besides, meeting all his former companions and the new captains and vice-captains didn't really appeal to him. They were being nice and all that but he could sense they weren't really all that relaxed. _Why should they be, even though they know we're the good guys they can still sense the Hollow inside us. _No matter how well they cloaked their reaitsu, the Hollow's essence still somehow leaked through, especially in the presence of high-ranking Shinigami who possessed vast amounts of spirit power themselves. It would be too awkward for him.

"Kensei?" The former captain's head snapped up and he saw Shuuhei standing at the door, leaning on the doorframe. He immediately got up and walked to him, reaching his hands to support him.

"You feeling better kid?" he asked, lowering his hand to the young man's shoulder, his thumb caressing his neck.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine" he said, smiling tiredly at Kensei. He swayed a little in his place, making Kensei quickly wrap his arms around him. Shuuhei had put on the other dressing kimono, the silky fabric felt slippery and cool under Kensei's touch.

"No you're not" he muttered, "lean on me, I'll take you back to bed."

"No, Kensei, I'm fine, I just feel a bit flimsy, really I'm fine." The young man pushed himself off Kensei and steadied himself on his own feet. After a moment of staggering, he smiled and spread out his hands.

"See, I'm fine" he said, just before his other knee failed him and made him lose his balance. Kensei was quick to grab him again, shaking his head.

"Should've listened to me kid, you've gone through a lot in the past few days, the stress is getting to you. You need to rest."

"Okay, okay" Shuuhei sighed and leaned his head against Kensei's shoulder, "but can I stay in the garden? It's so musty inside, I don't like it."

"Sure thing kid. Lean on me, I'll walk you there."

"Thanks" the vice-captain sighed as he wrapped his arm around Kensei's neck and leaned his bodyweight against the man. The former captain was bit shorter than him but much more heavily built and could easily carry the young man's weight. He led them to the tree and sat under it, pulling Shuuhei gently down so he was sitting between his legs. The young man leaned against Kensei's chest, letting out a sigh as he placed his head against the man's shoulder. The former captain hemmed and buried his nose into Shuuhei's hair.

"Better?" he asked, wrapping his arms around the young man's body, pulling him even closer to his chest.

"Yeah" Shuuhei sighed and snuggled into a more comfortable position. Kensei's body felt warm and his touch reassuring, he felt safe.

Kensei inhaled the young man's scent. He could feel his inner Hollow rumbling inside him, purring from the sensation of Shuuhei's reaitsu being so close to it. The man frowned at the notion, _maybe I should ask Kisuke about it. Hollows hunt for people with high level of reiatsu, what if they can even have preferences for a certain type of spirit power? Every person has their personal reiatsu so maybe they have a different feel to them for Hollows? _Kensei shook his head again, this kind of deep thinking wasn't his thing. He was more of a hands-on approach kind of guy. He nuzzled his nose against the crook of Shuuhei's neck, this he knew. The young man shifted gently under his touch, closing his eyes and letting out a satisfied hum. He raised his hand to touch Kensei's face, his fingers brushing over the man's cheek and went up to his hair, stroking the short silver locks lovingly. The former captain leaned into the touch, a small smile playing on his lips. They sat in silence for a while, touching each other with carefree tenderness.

"The last time I was here was just before I left" Shuuhei broke the silence, whispering the words quietly. Kensei hemmed and planted a light kiss on his neck.

"I used to come here quite often" he said, smiling at the memory, "every time Mashiro was doing my head in, I came here for some peace and quiet." Shuuhei chuckled and craned his neck to look at Kensei.

"You know you two kinda remind me of captain Zaraki and his lieutenant Yachiru. I think she'll grow up to be just like her." Kensei barked out a laugh and leaned his head on the tree trunk.

"I wouldn't wanna be around to see her growing up to be a woman. With someone like Zaraki as a father…" the older man shook his head and cackled at the mental image. Shuuhei laughed too, turning around in Kensei's lap so he could face the man. He moved his hand to cup the man's face, his eyes scanning his features intently.

"I'm happy that you're here" he said quietly, smiling plaintively. The former captain frowned slightly at his words and expression.

"Then why are you looking so sad, kid?" he asked, trying to lighten up the suddenly serious mood.

"I'm not, I just…" Shuuhei's voice cracked and he lowered his face, still keeping his hand on Kensei's cheek. The older man sighed and raised the vice-captain head up by grabbing him by the chin.

"Shuuhei, look at me" he ordered. The young man locked eyes with him and again Kensei had to hold back not to lunge on him like a horny teenager. His Hollow was almost moaning now, irking him to just tear of Shuuhei's cloth and ravage him then and there. Kensei had to focus to block it out and concentrate on the young man.

"You can talk to me, you know it. That's what I'm here for." _Hopefully not just for that though, _he thought and wanted to immediately kick himself for it. Thinking about it just made it worse. And now Shuuhei was shifting on his lap, very conveniently brushing his thigh against his groin. Kensei had to bite his lip not to groan. The young man seemingly ignorant of the motions Kensei was going through in his head and sighed again, trying to find words with which to express his inner feelings.

"I'm just really scared" he finally uttered, trying to laugh it off but failed miserably. He looked at Kensei, looking the epitome of misery.

"You must think I'm being stupid." The former captain huffed and ruffled Shuuhei's spiky hair.

"On the contrary kid, I'm probably just as scared as you are." This made the young vice-captain frown.

"You don't look scared. Why would you be scared?"

"Well why are you so scared?" the older man asked, cocking an eyebrow to him, "I think that logically I have more reasons to be scared than you."

"But you're so strong, I've never seen you been afraid of anything." Kensei laughed out loud at this statement, shaking his head.

"Oh if you only knew, kid" he chuckled, looking at Shuuhei with amusement in his eyes, "I've been scared shitless in my life more times than I care to count, believe you me."

"Scared of what for example?" Kensei's laughter ceased as he thought about all the things that had made his legs wobble under him and fill his mind with terror. He had seen his fair share of battles, and turning into a Visored had been probably the single most scary and painful thing in his life. Facing Aizen again and witnessing his horrible power had been more than enough to make him feel physically sick from sheer fear. But then again, for some reason the feelings that he had experienced during the last few days scared him too, especially if he stopped to think about them. Thinking that he was risking his own life, the lives of his friends and that of Shuuhei's made him so scared he couldn't even move.

_And for what? That I could be with him? For God's sake old man, you've known the kid for what, two days, three days? Maybe you have gone completely insane, that would be the only logical explanation for this madness. And for that weird feeling I've been having ever since I saw him the day he came to our HQ. _He hadn't told Shuuhei but it wasn't just his inner Hollow that seemed to crave for the young man's presence. He had noticed it the second he had laid his eyes upon the vice-captain in their HQ, that's why he had had to run to his own room, he had been sure he would've done something really, really stupid if he had stayed. But when even after hours of pacing around in his room and banging his head against the wall the feeling hadn't eased the feeling, it had just gotten worse, he had decided to man up and confront to young man. How bad could it be? _And here we are._

He could feel it even now, that strange burning sensation that tingled his whole body and made his heart rate quicken, it's beating banged in his ears so loudly he was sure it could be heard miles away. His brain melted into mush and drained out from his ears, or at least he thought it did since why else would he act like a complete idiot every time he was alone with the kid? He had every reason to be scared, either that he really was insane or even worse, that it was all real and he had actually fallen for the young man so hard it made his head spin. And that his Hollow was apparently feeling the same thing made it all even more frightening, he was scared he'd lose control and hurt Shuuhei badly, or anyone else for that matter. He had already taken some of his rage out on Lisa but what the others didn't know was that he actually _had_ held back, and still he had acted like a crazed animal. It made him shiver to think what damage he would've caused if he hadn't been able to control his Hollow, even Hachi's strong barrier wouldn't had stopped him from attacking Mashiro for touching something that was now his. _Oh God, am I really that bad? _Kensei thought and then nodded to himself, he really was that bad.

"If I started listing out my worst fears, we'd be here all night" he said out loud to Shuuhei and cracked a smile to him, "and you don't need to hear that, you need to rest." The air was getting colder, it was almost midnight already.

"We should probably get back inside so you won't get cold" the former captain said and gently pushed the young man off him and helped him to his feet. Slowly they walked back to the captain's room, Shuuhei leaning his head against Kensei's and looked up at the night sky.

"Renji said they're having a party tonight, to celebrate their successful scam" he said softly, smiling at the thought, "I can imagine they're having fun."

"Well, if Shinji's there, they'll at least be drunk if nothing more" Kensei remarked. Shinji had been Kyoraku's most reliable drinking buddy back when they still were both captains a century ago and had reminisced over their adventures many times in the Real World. Apparently none of the Visoreds could measure up to Kyoraku's tolerance of alcohol, or the crazy ideas he came up with whilst drunk. Kensei didn't want to know half of the stuff they'd been up to in days of yore.

"It was nice of him to come escort you here" Shuuhei said, glancing at the former captain. Kensei laughed loudly at this.

"Yeah, I'm sure he did it for the sheer goodness of his heart" he said sarcastically, "Shinji rarely does anything unless he can benefit from it himself."

"That's a pretty nasty thing to say about your friend."

"I'm his real friend so I tell you the truth" the older man grinned, "real friends know each others' biggest flaws but don't care about them. Fake friends either ignore them or just don't want to know." Shuuhei huffed and grinned back at the man.

"Isn't not caring the same as ignoring?"

"No, 'cause if you ignored all your friend's flaws, you wouldn't give him shit about it" Kensei explained, "but only with the best intentions in mind, of course."

"Of course."

Shuuhei couldn't help smiling again like an idiot. It was nice to see this side of Kensei, proof that there was more to him than his usual serious exterior let to understand. The man helped him back inside, leaving the door open to the garden so the air wouldn't be so stuffy. Kensei lead them to the bed, slowly lowering Shuuhei to it, not letting go of the young man before he was safely lying on the mattress. The vice-captain rolled his eyes and chuckled at the man's fussing.

"I know I am younger than you but you don't have to treat me like a child." The former captain gave him a cockeyed smile as he crouched next to the mattress, pulling the covers loose.

"I can always go to that party and leave you here by yourself if that's what you want" he teased the young man, knowing full well that neither of them wanted him to leave.

"I wasn't complaining, just saying" Shuuhei smiled and reached his hand to grab Kensei's arm. The man turned to look at him and had to stifle a sigh as he saw the look in the young man's eyes.

"You will stay, won't you?" Kensei swallowed and suddenly had to urge to try whether some of his brains were actually draining from his ears, so blank was his mind at that moment.

"If you want me to, yeah" he managed to answer and coughed awkwardly, tearing his eyes off Shuuhei and concentrated on fluffing the duvet. Shuuhei was still holding onto his arm, his long fingers caressing the sensitive skin in a way that almost tickled but not quite. He pulled himself up into an upright position and then reluctantly let go of the man's arm. Kensei was still giving all his attention to the duvet when he heard the rustling of fabric and closed his eyes, slowly counting into ten in his mind before turning his head.

Shuuhei was untying the sash that held the kimono on his waist. The fabric was already loosened on his shoulders, revealing much of his tanned, muscular upper body. The dim light from the stars and the moon shone from the door behind him, giving his black hair kind of a halo around it. Shuuhei untied the belt and shook off the kimono, pulling his arms out and then rolling the cloth into a ball that he threw next to the bed. He then looked up to Kensei and raised an eyebrow to him meaningfully.

"I thought you were going to stay" he said, a small smile curling the corners of his lips upwards. Kensei nodded but didn't do anything to remove his own clothes. Shuuhei sighed and rolled his eyes to him, shuffling closer and reaching his hands towards the man's midsection. His quick hands untied the sash and opened the kimono, moving up to his shoulders to pull the garment off him. Kensei did little to help him, he was busy eyeing the young man's body and the movements of his muscles as he undressed him. Only then he noticed that Shuuhei's hands had dropped down to his waist, pulling on his fundoshi.

"Do you want me to…" the vice-captain asked tentatively, tugging lightly at the fabric.

"Ah, yeah, sure" Kensei said, wanting to smack himself for being such an articulate idiot. His embarrassment was quickly overshadowed by the notion that his inner Hollow was making itself known again, letting out a kind of a purring sound that got stronger every second Shuuhei's hands kept touching him.

As the young man's fingers dipped inside his underwear, starting to undo the knots that held it together, Kensei's hands rolled into fists as he tried to keep his Hollow under control. To his surprise it proved to be quite easy, as if the Hollow was satisfied with just lurking in the background of his mind. _Dunno what kinda kicks it gets from this, _the man thought but then had to stifle a groan as Shuuhei wrapped his fingers around his cock, after finally managing to strip him off his underwear. The young man stared at the older man as he moved his hand slowly along the shaft, making Kensei bury his hands into the sheets beneath him, gripping them so hard he almost tore them into pieces.

Shuuhei nudged his legs apart with his free hand and settled himself between them, leaning forward to kiss Kensei's chest and neck. The young man's touches made Kensei's skin tingle and he raised his other hand from the mattress to bury his fingers into Shuuhei's hair. The vice-captain shuffled himself closer, his hand still working on the older man's erection, and planted a light kiss on his lips. He ran his tongue along the curves of Kensei's mouth, savoring the taste of the man's tongue and let out a soft moan as the former captain slowly answered to the kiss. Kensei tightened his grip on the young man's hair and tilted his head to the side, quickly claiming dominance over the kiss as his other hand slid down on Shuuhei's side and tore off his fundoshi. Shuuhei chuckled against his mouth and nibbled at his lower lip. He slowly started to descend lower on the man's body, trailing path a path of kisses along his face, neck and down to his chest. Kensei's hand ruffled his black spikes and the other one roamed over the young man's body, lightly caressing his toned midsection.

Shuuhei was pressing kisses along Kensei's stomach, tracing the lines of his tattoo with his free hand. He then looked up at the man himself, whose eyes were already half-lidded and he was biting his lip to muffle the sounds of pleasure that tried to come out of his mouth. The vice-captain's hand slowed its pace on his cock, his thumb sliding over the tip the smear the shaft with precum. Kensei groaned and looked pleadingly at the young man.

"You're being a tease, kid." Shuuhei uttered a low laugh and licked his lips slowly, making Kensei's eyes widen.

"You don't have to do that" he said, though it was very clear he wanted him to. Shuuhei smiled softly and pressed his hand against the former captain's tattooed chest.

"You did it to me, I want to return the favour." This made Kensei groan and shake his head.

"Don't do it just because of that, it's not right."

"But I want to" Shuuhei protested, then smirked and leaned closer to Kensei so he could whisper into his ear, "if you promise you'll fuck me later." Kensei had to fight not to laugh out loud at the statement.

"Where did that come from, kid?" he asked, "I didn't know you were so dirty." Shuuhei grinned and stole a quick kiss from his lips.

"Must be from spending too much time with you" he replied but left out the fact that he had had a long mental conversation with Kazeshini as he had been unconscious. The spirit always had a certain effect on him, and now he felt like it might be a good idea to listen to it once in a while. Even now he could hear the spirit's low laughter rumbling somewhere in the back of his mind, he had learned from his time with Renji that the spirit was kind of a pervert, it loved to be around every time he had sex. But not just with anyone, it apparently had some kind of preferences among his partners. It liked men more than women, and the stronger the better. _If I ever fucked Zaraki it would probably die of happiness, _Shuuhei thought and immediately regretted it, the mental image was just too much. Luckily, the sight of naked and aroused Kensei before him was quite enough to wipe it away and he concentrated his attention back to the task at hand_, _quite literally.

"So, what do you say?" he asked the older man, who was almost squirming under his touch. Kensei's face split into a wide, almost predatory grin as he nodded slowly.

"What do you expect from me, kid", he said in a husky, gruff tone, "now get onto it or you'll get nothing from me tonight."

"Uu, tough love, eh?" Shuuhei teased before lowering himself between the man's legs and shuffled down so he wouldn't have to bend over much. Kensei let go of him and leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows so he could still see what the young man was doing.

The vice-captain's head hovered over his groin, his hand still slowly moving along his shaft before settling to the base of his cock. His thumb still caressed the shaft as he finally lowered his head down and took the tip of the cock into his mouth, twirling his tongue around it. The former captain let out a long sigh and his eyes closed as his muscles relaxed so he could enjoy this as much as possible. He immediately noticed that this wasn't Shuuhei's first time, that or he was just naturally gifted. Kensei could hear his Hollow make almost identical sounds of pleasure as himself, which would have alerted him if he wasn't so busy trying to prolong the experience as best he could. Shuuhei's tongue was now sliding up and down the shaft at the same pace as his lips sucked on it, massaging the sensitive skin gently. His head bopped slowly up and down and his free hand rested on the former captain's thigh, keeping him in balance and from dropping too low. His other hand was caressing Kensei's erection, moving slightly along the shaft at the same pace as his mouth and tongue.

"Oh fuck" the older man hissed between his teeth as Shuuhei's tongue pressed against the sensitive slit on the tip of his cock. The young man lapped at the spot, making the former captain quiver and moan and his elbows failed under him, making him tumble down onto the mattress. Shuuhei's silent laughter made him mouth vibrate, causing Kensei to curse again and he slapped his hands to his face, tearing out his hair.

"Kami's sake, Shuuhei…" he panted, his breath was getting shorter by the second. He usually wasn't this easily satisfied, on the contrary. He remembered one time, during a slightly longer session, Shinji had actually come up to his room and asked him to either finish up or shut his partner up, the others couldn't get any sleep from the sounds the poor guy was making. But now he felt like he couldn't take much longer and it had only been few minutes! _I'm getting out of practice, _he managed to think as rubbed his face with his hands, trying to get as much out of this as he could.

Shuuhei was twirling his tongue around the tip again, then started to slide his mouth along the cock, increasing his pace slightly. He could feel Kensei twitching already, and judging by the sounds he was making he wouldn't last long anymore. The young man mentally braced himself for it and tightened his lips grip on the shaft. He pressed his tongue against the sensitive spot on the tip once more, focusing on it for the last seconds before Kensei came, his hot sperm flowing into his mouth. Shuuhei felt the man's hand pressing on his head again, keeping him in place for the after waves of his orgasm. He didn't object, he just kept moving his head a little still as he swallowed all that came to his mouth. When Kensei's grip on his head relaxed, he finally got up, wiping a trickle of sperm from the corner of his mouth with his hand. The former captain was lying on his back, his chest heaving and his breath coming in short pants. He was looking up at Shuuhei, a satisfied smile on his face.

"I wasn't expecting that, to tell the truth" he sighed, his smile widening into a smirk. Shuuhei hemmed and shrugged his shoulders, crawling on top of the man.

"There's a knack to it" he said, smiling shyly and lowering his gaze, suddenly feeling self-conscious the man's stare. Kensei reached his arms to wrap them around Shuuhei's waist and pulled him to his chest, pressing a kiss on his forehead.

"So you still up for my part in this?" he asked. He could feel Shuuhei's erection pressing against his thigh, brushing against his own cock.

"I might need some help first though" he added and chuckled. He heard Shuuhei snort and the young man raised his head, looking at him with a disapproving frown.

"What, too crude for you now, eh?" the former captain asked, kissing him on the lips this time.

"I should've known you'd be so vulgar" Shuuhei answered and pouted his lips at him.

"Oh, so I'm the vulgar one now" the man laughed and wrestled Shuuhei under him on the bed, rising up to sit on his hips, "you were the one who brought up fucking in the first place."

"Oh so you didn't want it?" the young man grinned at him, writhing under his body. Kensei groaned at the sweet friction and pinned the young man's arms onto the mattress.

"I didn't say that, you're putting words into my mouth now." Shuuhei cracked a smile at him and Kensei scoffed as knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Oh, and you call me vulgar, you little pervert" he said and leaned down to kiss him again.

"I said that you're rubbing on me too much" the young man said and snorted. Kensei rolled his eyes at him and shook his head.

"Even I'm not that childish. You can really tell who's the younger one here."

"Now you're just sounding like a dirty old man."

"Who said I wasn't?" The former captain winked at Shuuhei exaggeratingly, making him laugh out loud and grab hold of the man's head, pulling him into a deep kiss. Kensei could feel heat pooling down to his groin again, just from being so close to the young man. He felt how Shuuhei's hand slipped from his hair and started to slide down his back, then sneak to his front and again the young man's fingers wrapped around his cock. He moaned approvingly against the vice-captain's mouth and wrapped his own hand around Shuuhei's narrow waist, bringing their lower bodies in touch. The young man bucked his hips against Kensei's, rubbing their cocks together. The former captain slid his hand down to Shuuhei's ass, grabbing it tightly and kneading the firm flesh.

The vice-captain broke the kiss and groaned from the touch, burying his face into the crook of Kensei's neck. The older man latched his mouth into Shuuhei's neck, biting and kissing the sensitive skin as his hand slowly made its way to the young man's entrance, one finger slowly sliding inside him. Shuuhei muffled his moans against Kensei's skin, his body tensing up for few seconds before slowly relaxing to the touch. The older man's other hand was supporting Shuuhei's neck, his fingers sinking into his black hair as his lips kept sucking on his skin. He inserted another finger into the young man, earning another keening moan from him.

"Easy there kid, we've got all night" he chuckled into Shuuhei's ear and licked a trail from his jawline to his collar bones.

"Don't think I can last that long" the vice-captain breathed out, his hand still slowly pumping on Kensei's erection. He was already hard and aching to finally do to Shuuhei what he had wanted from the second he had seen him.

"Well then you're in luck, 'cause I can't wait anymore" he murmured hoarsely and withdrew his fingers from the young man, pushing himself to sit up on his shins between Shuuhei's legs.

"How do you wanna do it?" he asked, grabbing hold of the young man's legs and raising them to his hips so he could wrap them around his waist.

"What do you mean?" the vice-captain asked, frowning slightly at the question. Kensei chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows.

"You know, like this, from behind, from the side, upside down, whatever you like" he grinned as his hands stroked the man's thighs, "use your imagination, kid." Shuuhei snorted and shook his head, uttering a laugh.

"Well how do you prefer, I'm not particularly picky" he chuckled. Kensei smirked at him and leaned down to kiss him, his tongue attacking the young man's mouth savagely.

"Good to hear" he mumbled against his mouth and before Shuuhei had a chance to say anything else, the older man slammed himself inside the vice-captain with one swift motion. Shuuhei's moans of pain were muffled against the former captain's lips that were still locked with his, the man's tongue dominating his mouth. His fingers scratched against the man's sides and his legs locked behind his back, pulling his body against Kensei's. The man moved slightly inside him, giving him some time to adjust to his size. Slowly he started to increase the pace, his hands holding onto Shuuhei's legs that rested on his hips.

The former captain finally released Shuuhei's mouth, straightening himself up to a sitting position. He admired the sight before him, the young man's body was glistening from sweat and his eyes were half-lidded and hazy, his mouth hanging ajar and breathing heavy. _Goddamnit he's gorgeous, _Kensei chuckled mentally as he slammed inside the vice-captain, making him let out a moan of mixed pain and pleasure. The Visored could feel how his inner Hollow was also drinking up the sight and howling at the sensation of being inside the young man. He had to hold himself back quite a bit so he wouldn't hurt Shuuhei but he wasn't sure if he could keep it up for much longer. A wicked smile on his face he slowly started to pry the young man's legs apart, making them fall onto the mattress. Shuuhei raised his eyebrows at him slightly but said nothing, just stared at him with those lust-filled eyes.

"Turn around" Kensei said, grabbing hold of Shuuhei's hips, ready to flip the young man onto his stomach. The vice-captain pressed his hands against the mattress and slowly started to turn around but Kensei was too impatient to wait and flipped him over, rising to his knees on the bed. He kept his hold on Shuuhei's hips and raised it on level with his so the young man was kneeling before him. He flattened his other hand against Shuuhei's back and leaned over him so he could kiss his neck. The vice-captain was holding himself up on his arms, panting for breath and the older man nuzzled his face against his neck. The same time he slid himself back inside the young man, not anymore earning such painful moans as before but more of sighs of pleasure.

"Kensei" Shuuhei gasped as the older man started to move inside him, now almost pulling himself completely out and then slamming back in. He felt the man's hand snaking to his front and grab hold of his disregarded erection, starting to stroke it firmly on time with his thrusts. Shuuhei craned his neck so he could capture Kensei's lips, nibbling on the former captain's upper lip and sliding his tongue along the roof of the man's mouth. Inside his head he heard Kazeshini making similar sounds as himself, the spirit was purring and moaning as Kensei kept thrusting and stroking him, their kiss deepening even more despite the uncomfortable angle. Kensei was now holding Shuuhei's jaw with his free hand, leaning the weight of his upper body on him. Shuuhei's hands were starting to shake but he didn't really notice, his mind was occupied by pure pleasure and the amazing fact that he was actually having sex with Kensei. The man's pace kept getting faster and his grip on his jaw was almost achingly tight.

Through his haze of pleasure Shuuhei noticed how the man's reiatsu was starting to feel heavy and different, that similar oily and suffocating feeling on his body as before. But this time he wasn't afraid, but instead embraced the feeling, letting his own reiatsu flow more freely as well. This only strengthened the sounds of pleasure from Kazeshini, apparently the Zanpakutou's spirit was almost drinking up the twisted mixture of Shinigami and Hollow reiatsu that wrapped around Shuuhei's body, making his skin tingle and the hairs on his neck rise. Kensei's pace was now almost brutal, Shuuhei was sure he would be sporting some massive bruises by next morning. His lips were numb from the fierce kiss but still he kept their mouths crushed together, their tongues lapping on each other as the young man was starting to feel the familiar warmth forming down in his stomach, somewhere between his navel and his spine. Judging by the grunts Kensei was making, he wasn't far from coming either.

The growl escaped from the former captain's throat as he kept pounding into Shuuhei, his teeth biting the young man's lower lip. He knew he was letting himself go too far but couldn't stop himself anymore. Even if he stopped right now, it was already too late. _Might as well go through with it, _he managed to think, _and he doesn't really seem to mind either. _The vice-captain was letting his own reiatsu wrap itself around the Visored, but it was different from what it normally was. It was heavier and had an edge to it that hadn't been there before. It felt almost…sinister somehow. If Kensei hadn't been buried deep inside the young man and almost crazed with lust he might've thought it more profoundly but now was a bad time.

He latched onto Shuuhei's lips, forcing his head to keep in place with his hand as the other kept pumping on his erection. Suddenly he felt his hand being coated with warm liquid as the young man moaned and bit his tongue. Kensei could taste blood in his mouth but didn't mind, his inner Hollow was now growling loudly inside his head and thrashing wildly in his soul. He thrust inside Shuuhei few more times and then felt the wave warmth coursed through his body, making his legs go weak and his hand finally loosen its grip on the young man's jaw. He pressed his neck against the vice-captain back, both their bodies were slick with sweat and semen. Shuuhei collapsed onto the mattress under him, his arms couldn't carry their weight any longer. Kensei rolled onto his back next to Shuuhei, breathing heavily but a crazy smirk on his face. He patted the young man's ass and chuckled.

"Good job there kid" he sighed and turned his head to look at man next to him. Shuuhei laughed with his face pressed against the mattress and slowly turned to his side on the bed, trying to catch his breath.

"I wish I could say the same to you" he smiled, earning a slap on his stomach from the older man.

"Come here, baka" Kensei said and pulled Shuuhei close to his body, the young man quickly wrapping his arms around the former captain's chest and shoulders, and their legs entwining. Shuuhei noticed how Kensei's reiatsu had turned back to normal, the air felt easier to breathe and the oily feeling on his skin was gone. Now he just felt sweaty and filthy, in more ways than one.

"We might need another bath" he muttered as he leaned his head on Kensei's shoulder. The man stroked his hair and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Yeah, guess so" he answered, yawning and stretching his legs, "maybe later."

"You think we have time?"

"Why wouldn't we?" the former captain glanced at Shuuhei from the corner of his eye, "If not, I'll make time. Besides, whatever they want to do with us, they probably prefer us not being covered in sweat and cum." Shuuhei laughed and reached to kiss Kensei's lips.

"I guess that makes sense" he said and smiled widely at the older man, "you're a wise man."

"Finally some recognition" the former captain scoffed, earning another laugh from the young man.

"And an excellent lover" Shuuhei added, pressing his lips against Kensei's neck. The man groaned and ruffled his hair.

"Maybe, but not insatiable. At least for a while" he said and patted the bed searching for the duvet. He pulled the blanket over their bodies and kissed Shuuhei's forehead.

"Now rest, kid, you've had one hell of a day."

"Thanks to you."

"Shut up and sleep, Shuuhei."


	11. Chapter 11

**Final chapter. End of for this story. It has been a fun ride. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and alerted this fic, I couldn't have done it without you. And I'd also like to thank the Academy and the Nobel Prize Committee and so on and so forth. Took me about six months and I owe all the credit for the whole idea to my dearest bohemian artist friend back in Finland. So I dedicate this crowning chapter to her. What an honour (it's really not but this is the best I can do at this point). Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11. **

Renji groaned and held his head as he walked towards the ninth squad's barracks. The party last night had proved little too much for him to handle with dignity and he was currently suffering from the worst hangover ever to be bestowed upon a man, a new embarrassing memory popping into his head with every pounding in his brain. He hadn't exactly woken up where and when he was supposed to and had had to slip into the role of a ninja to make a quick exit. He had first staggered to his own barracks and fought back the urge to throw up in front of captain Kuchiki as the man had lectured him about the concept of moderation. To his luck, even captain Kuchiki saw this particular incident as a reason enough for a celebration so he had let Renji off with a stern warning and an icy gaze, which had been enough to sober him up for few minutes so he had been able to exit with little more grace before running to the nearest restroom. Now he was slowly making his way to the ninth squad barracks to check up on Shuuhei. He didn't yet fully trust his friend's new object of fascination.

Renji felt a twinge of guilt for his doubts, he used to be able to trust Shuuhei like a rock. The change that had happened in him after the War had been painful and disturbing thing to notice and now he was more than glad if Shuuhei would turn back to his own normal self. But still he had his suspicions. _What if the Shuuhei I knew was never the real him? What if he'll never be the man I once knew…and loved. _Renji shook his head and winced as his brain seemed to bang itself against his skull. It wasn't his place to judge Shuuhei, or Kensei for that matter. He should be objective and appreciate his friend's decision, not matter what he did. Though despite what he had told Shinji last night before the party he was maybe a bit jealous if Kensei would truly prove to be the man to pull his friend out of his misery and bring back the old Shuuhei.

The vice-captain finally made it to the ninth squad's barracks and tottered towards the captain's quarters where he had last seen the two men. As he walked through the corridors, members of the ninth squad kept running past him, all going to the same direction. Renji frowned and immediately regretted it, the gesture felt to shrink his skull and the throbbing of his brain just amplified. He grabbed the arm one of the Shinigamis going past him. The young Shinigami immediately quivered under his stare and Renji figured he must've looked more disheveled than he had thought.

"What's with all the hassle?" he managed to grunt. The young Shinigami pointed towards the training grounds in the barracks' backyard where Renji had brought Shuuhei yesterday to meet his lover.

"Vice-captain Hisagi is sparring with the Visored" the man said and then looked down at his arm which Renji was still gripping tightly, "if you don't mind sir, I'd like to go see it…" The redhead nodded slowly and loosened his grip, letting the Shinigami run towards the training grounds. Renji slowly wobbled to the training grounds where already almost all the members of the ninth squad were present, and some people from other squad's too. Renji noticed the towering form of 11th squad's captain right at the edge of the crowd, staring intently at something. The vice-captain teetered to the man and tried to compose himself enough to address the man.

"Captain Zaraki" he uttered, earning a mere grunt from the man, "what are you doing here?" The tall man pointed towards the middle of the crowd, the Shinigami had formed a semi-circle around the training grounds and were almost animating from the excitement.

Renji stretched his neck to see what was happening when a wall of reiatsu shot out towards the crowd, almost knocking some weaker Shinigami of their feet. Renji recognized the reiatsu immediately to be Shuuhei's but then he could feel another reiatsu, an odd mixture of Shinigami and Hollow reiatsu, pressing down on him, it felt much heavier and made his skin crawl. It wasn't like being in the presence of a Shinigami with massive reiatsu like Zaraki, whose impressive spirit power could knock people out cold if they weren't careful. This was more sinister and twisted, it felt wrong and Renji's primal instincts told him to grab his sword and attack it. Then he could see how the crowd quickly drew back to give the fighters more space and saw the reason why. Shuuhei's Kazeshini tore across the air, the blades spinning with incredible speed towards his enemy. The blade was quickly blocked and it spun back into the air, the other blade quickly following it.

Renji cursed the crowd in front of him that obstructed his view and glanced around him for a better point of view. He resorted in jumping to the roof of the barracks where he could see the whole scene unfolding in front of him. Kensei was standing in the middle of the training ground, spinning his Zanpakutou on his index finger. The Zanpakutou was quite small, it resembled a combat knife and Renji wondered how it would bear against Shuuhei's scythe- like Zanpakutou that was ideal for long-distance combat. Shuuhei himself was standing further away from the former captain, holding the blades of Kazeshini in his hands. Renji knew the expression Shuuhei was wearing, his eyes scanning the area and his opponent, his brain calculating possible strategies and the best way to approach this new type of a challenge. Kensei on the other hand was grinning widely, his posture more relaxed and almost carefree.

"That all you got Shinigami" he shouted at Shuuhei, stopping the spinning of his Zanpakutou by grabbing the hilt and held it horizontally with alongside of his arm. Before Shuuhei had a chance to retaliate, Kensei put his other hand on top of his sword hand and Tachikaze started glowing, forming an orb around the blade. Shuuhei raised his scythes in defense position as the former captain fired the glowing orb towards him, the power of its reiatsu shaking the ground and again making some of the younger Shinigami falter. Renji could hear the shrill of Kazeshini's blades hitting the ball of reiatsu and saw it dissolve with a massive explosion. He had to raise his arm in front of his face and lower his point of balance so he wouldn't be knocked down of the roof. The redheaded vice-captain could hear the bells in captain Zaraki's hair chiming and the man's rumbling laughter echoing across the training ground, scaring some of the Shinigami. The crowd was backing up considerably now, seeing that the two men weren't just fooling around. Once the dust settled they could see the vice-captain spinning the scythes almost lazily in his hands and Kensei clapping his hands slowly.

"Nice one" he complimented. He didn't have time to continue as he had to dodge the scythe whirling towards him at great speed. Kensei dropped to his knees and somersaulted forward, staying in a crouched position. The blade came swirling back at him and forced him to turn around and block it with the blade of his Zanpakutou. Kensei knocked the scythe towards the sky but didn't have the luxury of taking a breather when the other end of Kazeshini spun towards him. The former captain spun to his feet and ran towards Shuuhei, ducking under the chain of the man's Zanpakutou and grabbing it with his free hand. He yanked the chain towards himself, almost knocking Shuuhei off balance. The vice-captain let the chain run through his fingers until the other blade came to his hand. He used the blade's already existing kinetic energy to throw it towards Kensei with great speed, almost too fast to see.

Kensei was still holding onto the chain of Kazeshini as the scythe spun towards him. With a quick movement he wrapped the chain around his arm and pulled it to his left, hoping his gamble would work. And yes, the blade changed its direction and whirled harmlessly past him and hit the ground ten feet away from him. He let the chain slid away from his arm and grinned at the vice-captain.

"Nice move there" he said, "but you need more than that to fool me, Shinigami." The word rolled of Kensei's tongue like a derogatory term, highlighting the fact he wasn't just a Shinigami anymore. Shuuhei was now unarmed and his weapon was far away. Kensei had started to spun Tachikaze on his finger again, his reiatsu quietly simmering under his control but still prominent enough to make the air around his feet swirl and form small dust clouds. Shuuhei was again calculating inside his head, his eyes darting around the training ground. He knew Kensei wouldn't just give him his Zanpakutou back and start the match over, he wasn't that nice of a man. He'd have to fight for it.

The vice-captain used shunpo to teleport behind Kensei and dashed towards the blade of Kazeshini that was stuck on the ground. The man spun around and lashed down with his Zanpakutou, releasing the air blades that scratched Shuuhei's arm as he ducked to the ground and rolled around, narrowly dodging the slashing blade that cut off a strand of his hair. He was now only a foot away from Kazeshini and quickly grabbed the hilt of the scythe, his other hand gripping the chain and pulling it sharply, sending the other end of the weapon swirling from behind Kensei. The Visored grunted and turned sideways, hitting the scythe with the blade of Tachikaze, sending it flying upwards to the skies. Shuuhei was already pulling that scythe back and threw the other end towards the former captain, while starting to run to his left.

Kensei heard the whirring of chain heading towards him and had to turn around again, already raising Tachikaze to block the attack. His eyes followed Shuuhei as the young man ran across the training ground, chain slipping through his fingers and he realized what the vice-captain was trying. He turned his eyes towards the spinning scythe that was closing in on him, the blade on level with his head and would easily decapitate him if he didn't block it. But Kensei was sure that Shuuhei knew he could block the attack easily so he was bound to have some kind of a plan. _The kid's too smart for his own good, _he thought as he just stepped out of the blade's way, the scythe managed to cut his sword arm as it whirred past him. The wound wasn't so deep it would harm his fighting but now he just had to worry about the cunning plan Shuuhei had for him. He turned around to see where the young man was now but didn't see him anywhere.

"Bakudo n. 62: Hyapporankan!"

"Fuck it" Kensei managed to mutter before the first rod hit him on his shin, forcing him to his knees. He should've known the kid would use Kido, his only hope at defeating him was to bind him somehow so he'd have enough time to hit him. Kensei's reiatsu enabled him to move faster and his attacks were stronger, plus he had decades more of experience behind him. He could've broken free from the Kido if he'd release his spirit power but he'd probably blow up the whole barracks too. So he decided to let the young man have his victory and stayed put. Soon enough he felt heard the already too familiar sound of Kazeshini's scythes cutting the air as Shuuhei spun them around in his hands.

"Aren't you gonna get up?" he asked the former captain. The young man knew the man could easily break free from the Kido spell, it hadn't even held the low-ranking Arrancar in place for long. Kensei craned his neck back so he could see the young man standing behind him.

"If you wanna keep your barracks then no" he smirked at him. Shuuhei raised his eyebrow at this, the man was probably right. His full-blown reiatsu would most likely destroy at least the nearest buildings, plus they had an audience. Shuuhei had spotted Renji's crimson hair on top of the roof at one point.

"So you win kid!" Kensei bellowed, making the crowd burst into huge applause. The vice-captain lowered his head and swatted the air with his hand, dismissing the honour. He could protest later, now it was maybe better to let his subordinates think he had won fair and square. Slowly the people left the training grounds, returning to their duties. Only Renji and captain Zaraki stayed behind. The redhead slid off the roof and followed the tall captain as he walked towards the two men. Kensei grabbed the energy rod and tore it off it foot, grunting slightly as blood spurt from the wound.

"You should've let me do that" Shuuhei murmured as he hurried to the man's side and knelt down to check the wound.

"You call that a fight, Visored?" Zaraki asked as he stopped few feet away from them. Renji frowned at the captain but didn't dare to say anything. He could see Shuuhei was about to speak for Kensei but the older man got in first.

"Not really" the former captain replied, rising to his feet and ignoring the pain on his foot, "but what do you expect when you play with kids?" Zaraki barked out a laugh and his eye moved to Shuuhei.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Kensei held out his arm to grab Shuuhei's hand before the young man said anything. The captain of the eleventh squad turned around and walked out of the training grounds.

"If you're gonna hang around and want a real fight, you know where to find me!" he hollered as he strutted out. Kensei smirked and shook his head, turning to look at Shuuhei.

"Don't mind him, he's more of a beast than a man."

"I know" the young man said and smiled back. He glanced at Renji who had stayed behind, the redhead looked like shit and Shuuhei let him know that.

"You think I don't know that" the man groaned and rubbed his face with his hand, "captain Kyoraku had probably emptied all the sake storages in the whole Soul Society." The vice-captain shadowed his eyes from the bright sun as he fought to stay put, he thought the worst of his hangover had gone but apparently he'd been wrong.

"How's Shinji?" Kensei asked him as he put Kazeshini into one of the pockets on his trousers.

"He's…well I dunno really, he was having a great time, as I can remember at least" Renji answered, wrecking his brain for memories about last night, "I last saw him with Kyoraku and Ukitake, and Kisuke was there too…they were playing some kind of a drinking game I suppose…" Kensei chuckled to himself.

"Well in that case we won't be seeing any of them at least until the night" he said and eyed the vice-captain, "you don't seem to be in that bad of a shape, considering who you were drinking with." Renji managed to force a crooked grin on his face.

"Thanks, I then must feel a lot worse than I look" he uttered, "you two seem to be alright?" Kensei exchanged glances with Shuuhei and Renji could already see the difference in the vice-captain's whole presence. In a way he was glad he was so hungover, otherwise he might have felt sorry for himself.

"Yeah we're fine Renji" Shuuhei replied, smiling at the redhead, "you can go now and take care of yourself." The vice-captain scoffed but turned to leave, heading towards his own personal quarters. With luck he might be able to sleep over the worst of his hangover before the evening.

Kensei watched the redhead stagger away from the training ground and noticed how Shuuhei was staring at the man's back. With a second's of hesitation he nudged the young man on his arm with his elbow.

"Go with him" he said, earning a surprised look from the vice-captain. Shuuhei opened his mouth to protest but the older man shook his head and nodded towards Renji.

"Go, I can take care of myself here. Go!" The former captain slapped Shuuhei on the back to make him finally run after the redhead. Renji frowned to himself as he heard his friend jog to his side. He felt a strong arm wrap around his waist and his own arm lifted to Shuuhei's shoulders. He turned to look at Shuuhei who was smiling kindly to him.

"I'll take you" he said in a low tone, trying to speak as softly as he could, "you're a disgrace to us all in that state." Before Renji had time to answer back, Shuuhei shunpo'd them out of the training grounds and travelled through the roofs of buildings until they were at Renji's own private quarters.

They landed on the porch and the redhead tried to yank his arm off his friend's shoulders but the vice-captain was adamant on not letting go yet. He practically carried Renji inside the building and straight to his bedroom, lowering him on the bed before finally letting him go. Shuuhei closed all the shutters in the windows and disappeared into the small bathroom that was next to the bedroom. Renji could hear the sound of a bathwater flowing into the bathtub. Next Shuuhei walked to the kitchen that was on the other end of the quarters and started to boil water for tea.

Renji propped himself up on his elbows and kicked off his sandals. He tried to peel off his uniform but once he had gotten into horizontal position it was incredibly hard to move anymore. With a groan he lopped back on the bed and shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to stare at the spinning ceiling. He heard Shuuhei's low chuckling as the man moved in his apartment with ease. _And why wouldn't he, he's been here often enough_, Renji thought and again felt the slight tightening in his chest as he realized this would probably be the last time Shuuhei would take care of him like this. Kensei didn't seem the type of guy who'd happily let his man stay the night at some other man's house and cure him from his hangover.

"Why so sad?" Shuuhei asked as he sat down beside Renji on the bed. The redhead slanted his eyes open, trying to focus on the vice-captain.

"Who says I'm sad?" he tried to grin but the gesture was too much of an effort. Shuuhei rolled his eyes and smiled again.

"Don't even try that on me Renji, I know you too well."

"I guess you do" the redhead sighed and smirked, "guess I have to kill you now." Shuuhei poked him between his ribs, making the man groan and flinch away from him.

"Don't torture a man who's already in serious pain, that's just cruel."

"And how's fault is it that you're in that state?"

"Not mine, I was just misguided."

"Yeah well you've always had a soft spot for authority figures." Renji glared at Shuuhei with narrowed eyes.

"You're the one to talk, eh?" The other man laughed and beamed, actually beamed at him. Renji couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Shuuhei so happy and relaxed. Before Kensei he'd have probably shut down at the remark and gone all quiet and contemplative, mulling over the War and the loss of his captain. But now he could even joke about it.

"Alright, let's call it a draw. Get yourself into the bath, I'll bring you tea." The redhead reached his arms towards Shuuhei as he rose from the bed.

"Carry me-e-e" he whined and tried to force his face into adorable puppy eyes- look. The other man laughed out loud again and shook his head.

"Sorry Renji, you're getting too heavy for me. Now get in the bath, it's getting cold already." Renji huffed out a sigh and dragged himself across the floor to his bathroom, peeling off his uniform as he wriggled on the floor. Shuuhei came back with the tea and chuckled at the sight of a grown man struggling on the floor with his clothes.

"Do you have any idea how stupid you look?" he asked as he stepped over Renji to walk into the bathroom.

"This wouldn't be happening if you had carried me" the man protested as he finally made it to bathtub and climbed in with a splash. Shuuhei sat down next to the tub and handed Renji his tea.

"I think we already stated whose fault this whole mess is" he grinned and sipped on his own tea. Renji exhaled deeply as he leaned back on the tub, relaxing into the hot water. Steam rose from the bath and the air smelled of sweet herbs.

"Ah, how come you always manage to make better tea than me" Renji muttered as he gulped down his tea, "and baths too. Are you actually a woman?" The redhead cocked an eyebrow to Shuuhei who didn't even bother answering.

"So" Renji started after a short silence, "how is he?" He didn't even have to look at Shuuhei to know the man's face had melted into that sickeningly sweet, adoring expression he only reserved for the people closest to his heart.

"Do you really want to know?" The redhead scoffed, the man did know him too well.

"Not really, just trying to act like a friend should" he said as he rolled the teacup in his hand and hemmed, "as it seems you've managed to alienate most of them." Shuuhei sighed and placed his teacup on the floor.

"I know, I know…" The vice-captain was silent for a moment and then looked at Renji with hesitation in his eyes.

"Do you think I've made the wrong decision?" Renji turned his head to his friend and even with his hungover brain he could see how doubt was nagging at the back of Shuuhei's mind. He reached his arm to touch his neck, his thumb stroking his hairline.

"What do you think?"

"I…I thought I knew, but…the more I think about, the more doubts I have."

"Then don't think about it, boke" Renji said, drawing his hand back and nudging Shuuhei lightly on the cheek with his knuckles, "you've spent years thinking about stuff, you should be more like me and just go with it." He lowered his hand to poke Shuuhei's chest where his heart was.

"Call me a sucker but you'll know it in here" he said, then raised his hand to poke his forehead, "not just in there. And besides, all the captains are rooting for you so there. If the strongest and wisest people in the whole Soul Society think it's okay, who are you to say 'no'?" Renji smirked widely and sunk back to his bath, letting his words sink into Shuuhei's surprisingly thick head. He glanced at the man who was leaning his chin into his hands.

"Figure it out already?" Shuuhei hummed and looked at Renji, now looking more serene than before. His lips curled into a small smile as he leaned closer to Renji and reached his hand to tousle the man's red locks.

"You know, for such an idiot you have some good insights" he smirked at him and pushed his head back. Renji rubbed the back of his head and glared at Shuuhei.

"Your luck I'm still too hungover to kick your ass" he mumbled as he sank deeper into his bath. Shuuhei laughed and pecked a quick kiss on the redhead's cheek before lying down on the floor next to the bath, his chest heaving up and down with his laughter. Renji just shook his head and closed his eyes as he soaked in the hot water.

"I think I'm gonna miss this" he said quietly after Shuuhei's laughter had died out.

"Hmhm, what do you mean?" the man asked but didn't get up from the floor. Renji shifted in the bath to wash his hair.

"You know, this, just us hanging around, hungover, telling shitty jokes and just talking about stuff" he said as he combed his hair with his fingers, "you know you haven't really been yourself and frankly I've missed you, you baka." Now Shuuhei propped himself up on his elbows and looked at his friend who tried to hide his slightly hurt expression behind his mass of hair.

"I'm sorry Renji."

"Nah, it's alright, I get it. But I'm glad for you, you got your new man and you're back to your old self, so all's well." Shuuhei frowned and crossed his legs.

"I'm still gonna have time for you, and the others" he said, shuffling closer to the tub, "I'll make up for it."

"What about Kensei then?", the redhead asked as he whipped his hair back, splashing water all around. Shuuhei shrugged.

"He can't be here all the time, and I have my duties to the squad. I can't just drop everything 'cause I have a boyfriend." Renji smirked at him behind the crimson veil of hair.

"You sound like a teenage girl when you say 'boyfriend'" he chuckled. Shuuhei nudged him on the shoulder but smiled. It felt good fooling around with Renji again, he'd missed the man more than he had imagined.

"Now get out of that tub, you're getting wrinkly" he said as he got up from the floor, picking up the teacups before he walked out. He heard the redhead rise from the tub and walk to his bedroom. Shuuhei rummaged through the cabinets for some food when Renji patted in, a towel tied to his waist. He sat down cross-legged on the floor by his small dinner table and leaned his elbows on it.

"What are you gonna make for me?"

"Depends on what you have here."

"There should be noodles somewhere in there."

"Oh yeah, found them." Shuuhei cooked up a quick meal for them and they ate together, moving on to lighter topics such as the party last night. Shuuhei almost choked on his noodles as Renji described the impromptu karaoke competition Shinji and Kyoraku had started and which the blonde Visored had finally won with his rendition of some popular song from the Real World. The redhead imitated even the dance moves the blonde man had done, making Shuuhei howl out of laughter. After they had eaten Renji didn't look so hungover and didn't reek of day-old alcohol but his eyes were still bloodshot so Shuuhei hassled him into bed and promised to have his back if anyone asked for him.

He left his friend's apartment and returned to his own barracks, this time on foot. It was past noon already, he had been at Renji's longer than he had thought. He felt around for a certain reiatsu and felt his heart skip as he found it near the captain's quarters of his barracks. He meandered to the barracks, ignoring his urge to just use shunpo to get there faster but he wanted little more time to mull over Renji's words. It was true that he knew what he felt and didn't question it anymore, but still his logical side was irking him to be sensible and think about the greater good. It would be difficult and it might prove to be mere impossible to keep up appearances but if the captains and his friends would help him, it just might work out for the best. He now just hoped Kensei felt the same way. He had talked about this kind of stuff before with Renji who had more experience on long-term relationships than him.

"_You know, all couples go through the same shit, every single one. The difference between those who make it and those who don't is that if they really are meant for each other, one of them will always stand up and fight, not just give up because of little difficulties."_

"_What if it's just too hard? What if the other person is always the one doing the fighting for the relationship?"_

"_Then you'd better hope it's worth fighting for. And you will know when it is. Sometimes you can feel that you're out of love but unless you're both out of love at the same time, you should be fine."_

_I do hope you're right, you big idiot, _Shuuhei thought as he made it to the captain's quarters. He saw the bed with the muddled sheets and smiled at the memory of last night, and the feeling of waking up in the morning with Kensei's arms wrapped around him. The door to the back garden was open and he could hear faint voices talking. He didn't try to hide his presence as he walked outside and saw Shinji and Kensei in the garden, the blonde Visored lying on the ground with his hat covering his face and Kensei grinning beside him under the sakura tree. The man raised his eyes from his companion as the young man stepped into the garden and his grin changed slightly from his mischievous smirk to a kind smile which reached up to his eyes as he looked at Shuuhei. Shinji raised the brim of his hat slightly and waved his hand to the vice-captain before lopping back to the ground with a loud groan. Shuuhei sat beside Kensei, their legs brushing against each other and the older man's hand rested on his thigh.

"How are you Hirako-san?" the young man asked in his low, soft tone that he had used with Renji during the height of his hangover.

"How do I look" the man muttered and winced as the act of forming sentences wrecked his brain, "oh god please kill me already." Kensei chuckled lowly and reached to smack the man over his head, knocking his hat off his face. The blonde squealed and quickly turned to his stomach to cover his eyes from the bright sunlight.

"Kensei, you cruel, malicious, vengeful, spiteful, cruel man" he wailed as he tried to bury his face into the cool grass, "Devil, thou name is Kensei and thee are godawful." The former captain and Shuuhei laughed at his misery, though the vice-captain felt bit sorry for Shinji after having taken care of Renji. He was about to offer the man the bed in the captain's quarters but then remembered what had happened there last night. _Maybe not the best idea ever. _

"You can only blame yourself, boke" Kensei jeered at the man and even nudged him with his boot, making the poor creature wail loudly in pain again. Shuuhei threw a slightly judgmental glance at the man who just shrugged and stole a quick kiss from the young man's lips, melting the expression from his face. Shinji had managed to push himself slightly up from the ground on his arms and had now forced his face into its usual lecherous grin.

"Aww, look at you two lovebirds, how sweet" he murmured before his arms gave up and he had to lay his head down again. Shuuhei didn't mind, he just snuggled up closer to Kensei's chest and let the man's arm wrap around his shoulders.

"Oh god, please don't start being so disgusting that I'll be sick" Shinji moaned, "and right at the moment, that won't need much." Kensei sighed as he reluctantly unwrapped his arms of Shuuhei and got up, heaving Shinji up with him. The blonde Visored moaned and groaned as the former captain walked him across the garden and through the captain's quarters, Shuuhei figured he was taking Shinji into one of the visitor's rooms that were along the corridor from the captain's quarters. Soon enough Kensei walked back, stretching his arms above his head as he made it through the garden and lopped back down next to Shuuhei. They snuggled back into their earlier position, the young man resting against Kensei's chest and the former captain leaning his chin on Shuuhei's head.

"How's your friend?" the older man asked after a while.

"He'll live" the vice-captain answered and shifted slightly on the man's lap, "but I feel kinda bad for him."

"How so?" Shuuhei sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I haven't been myself lately and been I really crappy friend to everyone…And now Renji said I wouldn't be seeing them anymore 'cause of you." Kensei snorted and buried his face into Shuuhei's hair.

"As much as I'd like to keep you all to myself, that's probably not gonna happen" he murmured, "I can't be here all the time and you can't keep running between the Real World and Soul Society. Plus I'd feel like a real bastard if you couldn't meet your friends because of me."

"I know, but…Renji's bit…different." Kensei could tell by the young man's voice that there was something he hadn't been told.

"Different how?" he asked, though he could already guess what it was. He'd noticed how the men interacted, it wasn't that hard to figure out the rest.

"He and I…we used to be close." Shuuhei waited for Kensei to say something, he should have told him before. To his surprise the man just shrugged.

"I knew that, I'm not blind you know. And no, I'm not angry or jealous." The older man planted a kiss on Shuuhei's neck.

"You shouldn't be scared of telling me that kind of stuff."

"Well I thought…you know, how you acted before. I didn't want you to hurt anyone."

"Yeah, guess you're right…When were you together?"

"It was during the Academy so quite long ago…But we're still friends and all…He knows me better than anyone."

"Do I have reason to be jealous then?"

"No! No, of course not, we haven't…been together in years, it's not like that."

"Then it's fine by me" Kensei said, "you need your friends now if ever. Someone needs to watch out for you while I'm gone." Shuuhei turned to frown at the man.

"I don't need a baby sitter. Plus they're all younger than me." The former captain tousled his hair and chuckled.

"You'll always be a kid to me, Shuuhei." Shuuhei rolled his eyes and made a face to him.

"Oh shut it old man, you sound like a pervert again."

"Oh yeah, who's the pervert here, giving out to older men?" The young man blushed and tried to muster up a countering argument.

"I am not…For fuck's sake!" he sputtered, squirming in Kensei's lap. The man laughed and just tightened his arms around Shuuhei.

"Just screwing with you kid, chillax." The vice-captain stopped his struggling and looked at Kensei with raised eyebrows.

"Chillax? The hell? Please don't ever say that again." The older man narrowed his eyes and smirked, reaching his hand to grab Shuuhei's legs and drawing him into his lap.

"What, I'm too old for it? That's ageism kid, you should be careful. Do you have any idea how old the Head Captain is?" he asked with a wicked smile.

"That's not the point, he's not my…my ahh…" Shuuhei's voice trailed off, trying to find the proper word for it.

"C'mon, say it" the former captain irked him, tickling his sides until he gave out.

"My gentleman friend" the young man finally said, making Kensei frown and stop his tickling.

"What's wrong with partner?" he asked.

"What's wrong with gentleman?" Shuuhei countered.

"Besides the obvious? It sounds weird."

"Well you're weird, we're weird" the young man said, shifting on Kensei's lap so they were facing each other, his legs spread to the older man's sides.

"You have a problem with that?" Kensei asked, raising his hand to touch the tattooed '69' on the vice-captain's cheek.

"Do I look like I have a problem with that?" he smiled back, grabbing Kensei's hand in his own, lacing their fingers together.

"Better not, otherwise I'd be pretty pissed."

"Well I don't so there" Shuuhei said and leaned in to kiss the former captain.

"Glad to hear that" he mumbled against Shuuhei's lips. They melted into the kiss for few seconds before the young man drew his head away, Kensei still nibbling on his lower lip.

"How long can you stay?" The older man shrugged, resting his hands on Shuuhei's hips.

"A day still, maybe. I have to go see Kurotsuchi tomorrow."

"You're not seriously going to let him do tests on you?" the vice-captain frowned. He had heard enough rumours about the crazy captain's laboratory to be concerned for his lover's safety.

"He'll just draw some blood, it's no big deal. I'm a grown man" Kensei said, grinning at the young man again, "unlike some."

"Give it up with the age shit, it'll be another century or so before you even start to look older than that."

"Yeah well it took you a century to get from a little kid to this" the man said and squeezed Shuuhei's buttock.

"You know you're not doing yourself any favours with the pervert stuff."

"Pfft, you love it, don't try to fight back" Kensei chuckled as he pulled the young man into another kiss. This time it lasted longer, their tongues massaged against each other and their hands travelled up on the other's body. Shuuhei smiled against Kensei's mouth as he ran his tongue across the man's teeth and his fingers sunk into his silvery hair, feeling how the man's own hands settled into the small of his back. He wasn't sure how long it lasted until they finally broke the kiss, their lips slightly swollen and faces flushed. Shuuhei stroked the older man's face with his thumbs as he cradled his face in his hands. Kensei was smiling at him again, that slightly crooked grin that made his heart flutter and stomach drop.

"You sure this is gonna work?" The former captain chuckled and shrugged.

"Nothing's sure kid, you ought to know that."

"That's not very comforting at this stage."

"I know, but it's the truth."

"I don't want the truth, I want to hear you say that we'll be together forever and everything will be fine from now on." Kensei hemmed and pulled Shuuhei even closer, craning his neck back so he could look the young man into his eyes.

"All I can say is that I love you and I'll do my best…"

"Wait wait wait" Shuuhei interrupted before he got any further, "say that again." The former captain scoffed and repeated:

"All I can say is that I love you…"

"You love me?" Shuuhei cut him off again, suddenly looking alarmed, "Are you sure?" Kensei raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well I usually don't kiss people I hate, so I guess I love you."

"You love every person you've kissed?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying, you know what I mean."

"Yeah I do, but…" Kensei cocked his head to one side, looking at Shuuhei from under his brow.

"You're scared? Too fast for you?"

"No I…I don't know, I've never said that anybody…And yeah, it's bit fast." The older man sighed and leaned back, his back against the tree trunk behind him.

"Well I just know what I feel, I can't speak for you."

"But you're sure about that? Definitely?" Kensei chuckled again and shook his head a little.

"Yes, I am sure. I don't say that lightly you know."

"I know, I know, I'm not saying you don't…But still, how can you…"

"I just know Shuuhei. I've told you how you make me feel and if this isn't love, I dunno what it is. Either that or then I am insane." He flashed that cockeyed smile at Shuuhei again.

"Personally I'd opt for being in love to being insane, don't you?"

"Is there really a difference?" the vice-captain grinned back. Kensei laughed and Shuuhei leaned against his chest again, listening to the man's steady heartbeat.

"You might be right there kid, you might be right. But don't worry kid, if you're not sure yet it's fine, these things take time. And that's one thing we have now. We can figure out everything as they come along." The young man smiled as he snuggled his head into the crook of Kensei's neck. He remembered Renji's words from earlier and tried to tune out his brain, focusing on what he felt. He thought about what Kensei had told him, how the man felt around him and how he felt when he was with him. It was true that it wasn't that far away from insanity.

"I know I can't make everything better, I can't heal you Shuuhei, but I can be here for you. I've come this far for this, and I ain't giving up now. I want to try and make you happy, if you just let me" Kensei said and Shuuhei raised his head from the man's chest.

"I know you will" he smiled gently, "and I want to make you happy too."

"Well it's settled then" the man laughed and kissed him, "gentlemen friends." Shuuhei chuckled and kissed the man's forehead, burying his face into his hair.

"You know Kensei" he sighed as he wrapped his arms around the man's neck, "I love you too." He could feel Kensei's face splitting into a wide grin as the man pressed his head against his abdomen, hands draping around his waist.

"You sure about that kid?"

"Yeah" Shuuhei chuckled and kissed Kensei's head, "that or I'm crazy too."

"Well then we can be crazy together, how does that sound to you?"

"That sounds perfect."

"It's a deal then" the older man smiled and pulled Shuuhei's face into level with his, "seal with a kiss?" The young man beamed at him and pressed their lips together.

"Love you."

"I know you do, you don't have to repeat it all the time."

"I just don't want you to forget."

"Shuuhei I swear, even if I couldn't remember my own name I'd remember that."

"That's a pretty big promise."

"I know."

"You can't possibly promise me something like that."

"Yes I can."

"Why?"

"Because I'm crazy and I love you, you idiot. And that's exactly the kind of thing a crazy person would say."

"Or a person in love."

"Yes."

"Well then I'll remember you even if I forget my own name. 'Cause apparently I'm insane as well."

"And in love?"

"Obviously."

"Seal with a kiss?"

"Definitely."

"Guess I'll have to believe you then."

"Would you believe a crazy person?"

"If it's you, I'll believe anything Shuuhei."

* * *

><p><strong>There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness.<strong>

**-Nietzsche**


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